


Crystal Vanguard

by OnioSonofGoku



Series: Crystal Dragon [1]
Category: Dragon Ball, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 23:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21225929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnioSonofGoku/pseuds/OnioSonofGoku
Summary: After a freak accident leaves Gohan stranded in the world of Equestria, he's inserted in the lives of the Crystal Royals for better or worse. As another war between the changelings and Equestrians seems to be dawning, the young saiyan will have to choose between protecting his new friends, or finding a way home. Also on FIMfiction.





	1. Half-Saiyan in a New world

_Ooooowwww…. Why does my everything hurt?_Gohan thought to himself as he tried to move. He felt something tightly wrapped around his chest, arms, legs, and head. He slowly opened his coal black eyes, the light blinding him for a moment as they adjusted. He finally got to look around the room, and to say he was shocked at what he saw would have been an understatement. _Is… is this room made out of freaking crystal!?_

Sure enough, the whole room he was currently resting in gleamed beautifully in the bright midday light, the sun's light fracturing off in a thousand directions. He covered his eyes to keep from aggravating his already pounding head as his mind tried to figure out where he was and how he could have gotten there.

He felt his tail twitching around behind, shocking him lightly for a moment until he remembered that he had asked his mom to let him keep it, feeling it kept him close to his father… __Why do I do I need to feel close to my dad? He's at home… isn't he?__He clenched his fist tightly, not realizing he was crushing the bedside tables edge in his grip, having been looking for something to pull himself up with, the beautiful crystal fracturing like glass as his head began pounding harder, a dark sense of loss hovering over him, yet it was just out of reach of his memory as to why.

The child warrior froze as he heard a door open, moving his arm so one eye could see who could of walked in. It would seem fate wanted the fighter on his toes as he was, once again, shocked beyond words. What stood in the doorway was a girl, at least from what he could guess, it was difficult to see her.

She wore a long light blue dress that fell almost to floor in a windswept, yet somewhat restrained fashion and a tiara with a pink crystal star at the top. She was barely as tall as him, with a small horn on her head just above the top of her hairline and two disproportionately large wings seated on her back, topped off with a head of dark purple hair with blue highlights through it. She had a heart shaped face with big, curious opal eyes that were currently alight with happiness as she ran into the room, coming to a halt beside the large king sized bed, all but bouncing off the walls.

"You're awake! Oh, wow, I was really afraid you weren't going to wake up for a while there." She said excitedly before just randomly hugging the warrior much tighter than he would have thought possible for someone so small. __Guess I'm forgetting about Krillin.__

"Yow! Too tight, too tight!" Gohan cried out as he felt his already abused body screaming in pain.

The female squeaked (it's so cute when they do that) as she let him go quickly when he cried out, a dark blush on her smiling face. "Sorry, I was just really excited. I really didn't think you were gonna get out of this bed. Oh, are you comfy? Is the bed too soft? I really like it to be plush enough it feels like I'm sinking, but I know a lot of people don't like that, but you don't really seem like an Equestrian, more like some kind of hairless monkey, especially with that tail of yours-"she rambled on.

Gohan smiled a bit as he listened to the girl's rambling before placing his hand over her mouth. "The bed is fine." He pulled his hand away. "I like that feeling. It makes me feeling like I'm on a cloud-"

"Drifting through a calm sky." The girl smiled and giggled a bit as she extended her hand. "Princess Flurry Heart."

The half breed alien smiled more as he tentatively took her hand in his, pressing his lips to it. "Son Gohan. Nice to meet you, Your Highness." Sometimes being the son of a warrior princess had it's upsides.

She giggled, her face flushing lightly. "Just Flurry is okay."

Gohan chuckled a bit as he looked around the room again, closing his eyes as they traveled to floor, which was still reflecting the sun's light. "Flurry, I need to know where I am."

Flurry cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Well, you're in my room, silly."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, where is your room located?" Gohan's coal black eyes opened again, locking onto the alicorn-blood's opal orbs, a level of understanding and strength in them no eleven year old should possess.

She was taken aback by the look in the child's eyes. It's almost like I'm talking to my dad. Scary. "You're in the Crystal Empire, a kingdom in the northern reaches of Equestria."

Equestria? I have to be on a different planet, but how? And what about the Cell Games? the saiyan thought as he finally found a hold on the table, groaning as his body fought against his moving. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over at the young female. "You shouldn't be moving. You need more time to rest." The warrior only smiled softly, earning a small blush from Flurry.

Though he appreciated it, he just pushed on, letting out a sigh of relief as he could now freely look around. The room was every bit as spacious as he thought, but it was just as you would expect for a little girls room. A large vanity sat beside the eastern window, next to that was an even larger wardrobe. The curtains hanging around the window matched her coats color, same as the ones on the posts of her bed, the sheets of which matched her eyes.

"Why were you screaming?" Flurry asked innocently, causing him to look at her, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. "A little bit ago, my Auntie Tia had to put a soundproofing spell on my room because you were screaming. You were apologizing to somebody. Why?" she asked, worry tinting her otherwise innocent voice.

Gohan chose to ignore her odd choice of pronoun usage, sticking to being captured in her blank, innocent stare. The child warrior cleared his throat as he felt his chest tighten. It's like I'm talking to my dad, freaky. "I don't know. I can't remember."

The girl narrowed her eyes at the half-breed. "Are you lying?"

Gohan narrowed his eyes at her in return. "How old are you?"

Flurry smiled broadly. "Nine. You?"

"Eleven." Flurry's smile dropped like Vegeta after Frieza's 'tale'. "What, thought you were older than me?" Gohan asked, not meaning to sound as smug as it came off. Flurry glared at the boy, the force of which reminded the boy of yet another parent of his.

Before anything else could be said, the massive double doors that led to her room opened, revealing another female, an (rather well developed) adult this time. Her eyes were nearly the same shade as Flurry's hair, a deep violet color that seemed to be brimming with unfettered love, though it was tamed in some sense. Her hair was more of an eye catcher than that of the girl's, being three different colors, a bright blonde, dark pink, and deep purple. She wore a simple outfit, a yellow sundress with an open red blouse.

Like Flurry Heart, she also bore a horn on her head and a large pair of wings on her back. Must be her mother. The alicorn-blood's eyes lit up the moment they fell on Gohan. "Would you look at who woke up? How are you feeling, dear?" she said softly, shutting the door behind her and making her way to the bed as Flurry closed the distance and hugged her mother.

Gohan lifted his cast covered arm and turned it in a circle to test his wounded shoulders flexibility, crying out with a short yelp as a loud pop rang out. Both females rushed the bed, only to be stopped by the saiyan putting his hand up. "I'm okay, just really sore. You two must really be related. You came to help me pretty quick."

The older woman smiled while her daughter just pouted lightly. "I'm a mother, it's in my blood to worry about children, even if they aren't mine. My name is Mi Amore Cadenza. You can call me Cadence. I'm sure you guessed that I'm Flurry's mother."

The fighter simply nodded with a simple smile, his body aching lightly from his now dislocated shoulder. He did a good job of hiding it from the two. They were worried enough as it is. "My name is Son Gohan, Your Majesty." The warrior bowed his head (as much as he could) in respect, earning a little mumble of 'He didn't bow for me' from a still pouting Flurry. Then she blushed after looking down at her hand.

Cadence giggled lightly and pat Gohan's head. "Cadence works just fine, Gohan. After all you've obviously been through, I think a more informal relationship would make you feel more comfortable." Her smile weakened as Flurry looked away from the ailing boy. "If I may ask, Gohan, what happened to you? I've never seen anybody suffer the kind of punishment you have and survive."

Gohan chuckled a bit after Cadence said 'punishment'. "Did I say something funny?" Cadence asked in confusion.

"No, it's just… I've taken much worse 'punishment' than this, trust me." The half breed popped his neck before speaking again as both Cadence and Flurry looked at him in disbelief. "I…" Gohan stared down at his covered legs as his eyes became listless and unfocused. "I don't remember."

Cadence reeled back a bit. "You don't remember? Anything recent that may have lead to you ending up here?"

Gohan simply shook his head, his eyes still unfocused. "I think... I think I was-guh!" he cried out as his head began to pound, his one good hand coming up to hold it together. He could feel Flurry on one side of him, holding his dislocated hand, obviously not realizing he couldn't use it.

After a few seconds, his mind began to clear of the pain, while his face reddened as the sound of his stomach filled the air.

Cadence smiled softly as her daughter started laughing at the blushing warrior. "Well, regardless of how tough you are, you're still a growing boy, or whatever it is you are. You'll be joining us for dinner." The princess turned to walk out of the room, the alien fighter opening his mouth to argue. "And no, that wasn't a request. Your outfit has been repaired and is in Flurry's wardrobe. I'll have the guards standing by in case you need help. Come along, Flurry. Papa is waiting for you."

Flurry's face lit up as she started out the door, hollering about daddy being home. Gohan watched, a mixture of sadness and a tinge of jealousy that was quickly crushed in his chest.

Cadence smiled as she watched her daughter jump into her father, Shining Armor's, arms, squealing happily as he spun her around. "She doesn't get to see him very often anymore. Being both a prince and Captain of the Royal Guard, he doesn't have much time to spend just being a father." She turned back to the fighter, seeing his far away gaze. He wasn't there, he was back in the darkness of a nightmare he couldn't remember.

He jumped when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, looking up to see an even softer gaze in the eyes of the princess. They stayed that way for several moments before Cadence backed away. "Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "When you grow to trust us, I'm sure you'll tell us. I'm patient. Now get dressed. Dinner's gonna be late enough as it is." She said, excusing herself from the room. It was then something struck him. A memory, but why it was there, he didn't understand.

"Cadence." She turned to look at him, the boy looking down at his covered legs. "There was someone else with me, wasn't there? A young woman. Where is she?"

Cadence sighed lightly as she shut the door again. "I'm sorry Gohan, but your companion was long since gone from this world when we found you. The force of whatever impact you took seemed to have taken her life, though it looked like you took the brunt of it to try and save her."

The warrior's fist clenched, his heart pounding in his chest. That poor pilot. Her family… I've gotta find a way home so she can be buried properly. What was her name? Angelina, right? Wait. How is it I remember someone I've never met, but I can't remember how I know them? "One more question." Gohan chose then to look at the alicorn-blood. "How long have I been unconscious?"

"…Three days." Cadence walked over to the boy, knelt down a bit, seeing the pain in the child's eyes, a pain many men wouldn't be able to endure, and pulled his head to her chest, very nearly smothering him. "It'll be okay. I know you're confused, but I promise, we'll help however we can." She said softly, as if she were his mother, holding him after a nightmare and telling him everything would be okay.

Gohan watched her leave, his mind reeling from everything that's happened, but one thing still stuck in the boys mind, outside his recent knowledge of tragedy and the mind numbing confusion. __Why do they have horns?!__

* * *

"So, where is this young man that you were telling me about, Flurry?" Celestia asked as she took another drink of her wine, Cadence refusing to let them eat until their guests got there.

"He's probably getting dressed. Mom told him he was gonna join us for dinner. You know how persuasive she can be. And he's a boy, but he's not an Equestrian, I don't think." The young princess said, an air of grace around her that had not been there before.

Theirs was a relatively small dinner. The Crystal Nobles were joined by the princesses of the sun and moon, Celestia and Luna, as well as soon to be joined by the princess of friendship, her assistant, one of the best pastry chefs in Equestria who just so happened to have provided the chefs with the pastry recipes for the night, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony. It was a special occasion, after all. It was Flurry Hearts ninth birthday.

"Oh, then what is he?" Luna asked as she finished her second glass of wine, Shining Armor sitting in solemn silence as he watched his little girl's face light up for the hundredth time tonight. It seemed whenever he came up, she became excited.

As Flurry opened her mouth to speak another voice filled the air space. "My ears are burning a bit. Is someone talking about me down here?" Gohan said, a small grin on his face. He still wore the bandages he'd been given, but now most of them were covered by the orange and blue gi that had been repaired for him, his well toned arms and upper chest on display, though his left arm was in a hastily made splint. If his mother had been there, she would have mistaken him for his father. There had been a suit for him to wear, and he had tried it on, but he quickly decided he hated it (Like father like Son Gohan).

The young girl ignored his smart ass comment, causing Shining Armor to glare at him a bit while also causing the princesses to chuckle amongst themselves. Flurry hopped up out of her chair and ran over to the fighter, grabbing his hand and trying to tug him to the table. "Come sit by me! Come on!"

Gohan laughed as he allowed himself to be pulled along by the younger child, pulling her seat out for her as they got to the table. This actually made the girl's over protective father smile a bit. "Nice to see the warrior has good manners." He stood up from his seat, walking over to an increasingly wary Gohan, extending a hand. He easily towered over Gohan, wearing a red and blue outfit that fit somewhere between regal and militaristic. It complimented his paler complexion and, like his daughter and wife, he had a large, white horn sticking from his forehead. "Prince Shining Armor."

"Flurry's father. Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Son Gohan." He said, taking the princes hand and giving it a brisk shake just before Shining flipped his hand over, knuckles up.

"Some deep callouses there. You've been through some intense training, I take it?"

"Yessir, since I was four."

"Rather young for that kind of training. Something happen?"

Gohan smiled a bit, though there was little emotion behind it. "You could say that."

"Armor, stop interrogating the colt. He hasn't killed anybody." Cadence said with a smirk, noticing the immediate tension in Gohan's shoulders. "Right?"

"No, you're right. His past is just that. Take a seat, Gohan." The man said, noticing the boys tension as well as said boy sat beside his daughter.

All eyes were on Gohan as he sat quietly, fiddling with the frayed end of one of his bandages. His face grew steadily warmer as he tried desperately to look for some kind of conversation. His stomach found one for him, his blush deepening.

Flurry giggled off to his side as the adults shared a laugh. "Getting hungry, Gohan?" Celestia asked, smirking behind her now empty wine glass.

Gohan cleared his throat. "Wine, a fairly large and obviously expensive table cloth with a more feminine color, the smell of baking cake in the air…" He smiled. "Are we celebrating one of your birthdays today?"

The princesses blinked in confusion, too stunned for words for a moment before Luna started giggling. "Observant, aren't we? I have a feeling that you and I would enjoy a wonderful game of chess, Gohan. Yes, we're celebrating Flurry's ninth birthday."

The boy cocked a brow as he looked over at a blushing, but still smiling Flurry. He smiled as well before turning back to ask why they would be drinking alcohol at a nine year olds birthday, his question being lost as a guard, a pegasus-blood, pushed open the door to the large dining area. He walked over to the table and knelt before the royals and their guest. "My ladies and sirs, Princess Twilight, Lord Spike and the Elements of Harmony have arrived." The guard looked up at Gohan as those in attendance thanked him. "Sir Gohan, how is your shoulder? Still hurting?"

The saiyan fighter just chuckled lightly and rolled his slung arm a bit. "More of a dull ache now. Thanks for setting it back in for me."

The guard bowed his head to the warrior respectfully before excusing himself from the room. Gohan wasn't used to this treatment, just smiling awkwardly at the display. Flurry turned and gave the half blood a pout. "What happened to your shoulder? It wasn't hurt that bad when we brought you to my room."

Gohan starting chuckling nervously as he fought for an explanation that wouldn't get him smacked upside the head. The sound of a door being opened saved him again, his coal black eyes turning to see the six new visitors.

One of them, the one up front, was a young woman that had a lightly tanned complexion with dark purple hair with pink highlights and a large set of wings on her back, complimented by a horn, another with a near white complexion with deep purple hair and a very pregnant belly as well as another horn, a tanned woman with a rainbow colored hairdo and an almost military like uniform with a few custom touches to it, such as a place for her wings to stick out from.

Then there was another with a farmers tan and sunburst blonde hair with a cowgirls hat on. Oddly enough, she didn't have any traits like the others did, seeming like a regular human in his eyes. And then last female was a pale young woman with light pink hair who seemed to be hiding behind the last guest, her wings covering her face, but the last one threw him for a loop.

It looked like a purple humanoid dragon. He was mostly human from a first glance, but a quick look around told the story. His forearms were covered in amethyst scales, tipped with emerald green claws. To top it off, he had a massive set of leathery wings seated on his back as well as a tail longer than Gohan's whole body behind him. Also somewhat disconcerting was the fact that he towered over everyone in the room, being at least seven and a half feet tall. He was nearly as tall as Piccolo.

Flurry's face lit up as she saw their guests walking into the room, jumping out of her seat and running to the purple haired. "Aunty Twily!"

Twily, Princess Twilight, from Gohan's guess, squealed as she knelt down to pick up her little niece. Then, the oddest, and quite possibly the funniest thing happened as the two broke away.

"Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake, clap your hands and do a little shake!" Everyone smiled at the sight, the dragon-blood simply rolling his eyes, everyone except Gohan, who didn't know if he should be horrified, laugh uncontrollably, or just stay quiet, so he chose to stay quiet. No point in making the situation odder.

A soft laugh broke the two from their reunion as all eyes turned to Celestia. "Now, now, lets calm down and enjoy ourselves, shall we?"

* * *

After a good meal consisting of fruit salads, juice, and a variety of pastries served by a bright pink haired earth-blood, if what he was told about their races was right, with more energy than an atom bomb, of which Gohan ate enough to satisfy the rest of the participants of the party, shocking even the pink haired woman.

"Never thought I'd see the day that somebody actually could out-eat Pinkie Pie." The dragon-blood, Spike, said in wonder as he watched Gohan eat his second helping of cake… after eating six servings of fruit salad. Very large fruit salads. And a meat pie. The whole pie. Only reason that was served was because Spike ate meat as well as precious stones ever since his growth spurt. He had no idea the odd creature he'd found the other day ate meat too.

"So, um, Gohan, mind if I ask what you are?" Twilight asked as she watched the half breed swallow about half a pie in a single bite.

He nearly choked on the pastry in his mouth as he was asked this, Rainbow Dash, the rainbow haired one, slapping him hard in the back to get it loose, which, somehow, barely moved the boy and left the woman with a badly stinging hand. But, it was enough to help him stop choking. He took a few deep breaths before giving a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Miss Dash."

The woman scoffed a bit with a cocky smirk, hiding the fact that her hand felt as if she just slapped a steel wall. "Just call me Rainbow, kiddo."

Gohan chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his head, flinching at the slight pain in his opposite shoulder. Flurry looked at the boy oddly before he undid the sling and stood up, walking away from the table a bit. "Gohan, what are you doing?" she asked.

Gohan's answer was to fling his arm out to the side with his body's weight, a sharp crack filling the room and the saiyan standing still for several seconds. Afterwards he just smiled again and apologized before giving a few quick test punches, and they were definitely quick. None of the experienced fighters of the room could see the movements.

Not at a hundred percent, but definitely better than before. He thought before taking a seat, only to realize the guests and birthday girl in stunned silence. "What?"

"So, um, Gohan, darling, I believe you were telling us who you were." The pregnant woman, Rarity, said, having finished her somewhat large meal and was now knitting. What she was knitting, Gohan had no idea, but the vibrant colors of the threads and the odd glow of her horn said it was a work of love and that it wasn't going to be an easy one. The boy did see the loving look Spike gave the woman just before he kissed the top of her head, causing her to giggle.

Gohan smiled at this. "Newlyweds?"

Spike kinda chuckled at this. "Yeah. Me and Rarity tied the knot about a year ago and then the little one happened pretty shortly after that."

"How far along are you?"

Rarity smiled softly as she rubbed her belly. "Eight months." She looked up at Gohan with a quick glare. "Stop changing the subject. It's rude."

Gohan chuckled nervously before earning a couple of quick slaps upside the head from Rainbow and Flurry. "Hey come on, haven't I been through enough?" Everyone in attendance began laughing at this. "But, honestly, Miss Twilight, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you the whole story, so suffice to say I descend from a warrior race. At least on my fathers side. I lived quite the life because of his bloodline, but even the bad times are precious to me because they always taught me something new and they always helped me to see the true hearts of the people around me."

He looked around to see everyone, even Pinky, silent from what he'd said. The rather shy, introverted, pink haired one, Fluttershy as he was told by Rainbow Dash as the woman herself was too shy to say her name loud enough for him to hear, was the first to speak. "Wow, Gohan. You really have been through a lot, huh?" she asked in wonder, causing the boy to chuckle a bit.

Flurry tugged gently on his sleeve, her opal eyes wide. "Do you think you could tell us a story of some of the things you've been through?"

"Flurry." Shining Armor said sternly, causing the girl to pout and look down at her lap.

"W-well, I don't see why I couldn't, but right now is your party, right? Shouldn't we be focusing on you?" Gohan asked, trying desperately to steer the conversation away from him.

"That's right!" Pinkie shouted, catching all of them off guard. "Dinner and cake have been served and eaten, so you know what time it is?!"

Everyone just stared at the party pony for a moment before Spike raised his hand. "Present Time?"

"Darn tootin'! Dash, Pinkie, let's get the presents up here, Spike, you come and help us." The blonde haired woman said, Applejack if he heard right. She had a very 'big sister' feel to her and Gohan felt he could trust her pretty easily.

Cadence called out to them, telling them they'd be moving to the commons room. Gohan stood up from his seat, excusing himself from his seat before following after the group. When asked, he simply smiled and said, "Sitting around and not helping isn't really a forte of mine."

He caught up to the group, telling them he wanted to help out. Both AJ and Spike told him no, saying he was still healing after his accident, but he persisted. Pinky came to his rescue, hugging him and pressing his face unintentionally into her rather plush chest. "Come on, guys, he's not the type to just sit around. He's like me. He's gotta be doing something or he gets really bored really quick."

"Uh, Pinkie?" Spike pointed at the struggling boy, the young woman only just realizing she was suffocating the poor boy. She giggled and let him go, apologizing as he took a few deep breaths.__Is this gonna become a thing?!__ He thought to himself as Rainbow only laughed at him, causing him to glare at her before straightening back up.

AJ sighed a bit. "A'ight, y'all can help, but if y'all start hurting again, Ah want y'all to tell us, okay?" Gohan nodded and the group began their walk again.

Spike kept glancing at the boy beside him, wondering what he was and how he got there, but he noticed him thinking about something, he could see it in his eyes. "Bit for your thoughts, kiddo."

Gohan looked up at the dragon. "Hmm? Oh, nothing, it's just..."

"It's the female that I found you with, isn't it?"

Gohan nodded solemnly as his eyes welled with tears at the thought of another innocent he hadn't been able to save.

"Judging from the look on your face, I'm guessing you've been through this before, losing an innocent that is." Another nod. The women had decided to remain quiet and let them have their talk, speeding up so the two could be alone. "It's never easy. I know because it's happened to me too. AJ's older brother, Big Mac, was killed in a manticore attack on our town. I wasn't able to get there in time to save him and our more powerful unicorns were away in Canterlot for a convention Twilight was hosting." Gohan's eyes widened at this, looking back up at the drake.

"For a long time I blamed myself for what happened, but I figured out after a long time and a lot of help that it wasn't my fault. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control and you just can't stop it. Always remember what they did and who they were, but don't let your guilt drag you down, kay?" Spike nudged him a bit, earning a small smile from the boy. The dragon smiled himself, tousling Gohan's spiky hair, causing him to chuckle and playfully shove the older male, before they noticed how far off the women had gotten, picking up the pace to catch up.

Once they did, the women asked what they talked about. Spike just said he gave the kid a pep talk. The women only smiled, Pinkie giving the boy another near bone crushing hug to help him feel better.

They got to the end of their walk, noticing that the present pile was... a lot bigger than they remembered.

"What in tarnation!? This here pile's gonna take ferever to move."

Dash looked at a few of the tags. "Looks like a lot of them are from the citizens. Makes sense."

Spike sighed as he pulled off his jacket. He had a feeling they were gonna be working up a sweat, but he stopped halfway through. He noticed they were on top of a large net and an idea popped into his head. "Hey Rainbow Dash, we can do this in one go if we use my idea." The others looked at him oddly until he pointed at the net. They all smiled as they figured out his idea. "Me and Dash'll pick it up using the net and fly it back to the commons... Room?"

He trailed off as he watched the net rise, coming to rest in the hands of a floating Gohan, the boy lifting the presents with little trouble. The women looked at Spike oddly before turning to see the injured boy easily outclassing them all. The fighter simply smiled a bit as he lifted the presents further up. "Come on, guys, Flurry's waiting."

"Wow, Gohan, you're so strong! How did you get that strong!?" Pinkie shouted in awe.

"How are you flying without wings?" Dash asked.

Gohan chuckled as he began floating forward. "Lot's of training. Now, where's the commons room?"

Spike woke from his stupor, getting under the net and pushing up on the bottom to let some of the burden rest on his shoulders as to keep Gohan from hurting himself further, not truly understanding how tough the half breed was. Though, he was grateful for the help. Spike turned the net in the direction they needed to go, directing Gohan's path as the women followed behind, picking up any presents that dropped out.

Once they got to the commons room, the faces of the other party members were written in shock. Whether by the sheer amount of presents being brought in or the sight of who brought them in. Spike got out from under the net, letting Gohan set them down, the boy letting the net open.

He floated back to the ground, smiling a bit at the shocked audience until they all broke into laughs as a present fell down and struck the boy on the head. He rubbed the top of his head in pain. First, he was still sore, second the box was really heavy. __What in the heck is in this damn thing?!__ He grumbled a bit before tossing it back onto the top of the pile.

Twilight just watched in awe and slight horror as her eye started twitching. "H-how did he… I don't…" She teleported her hand book and a quill into her hands, starting to quickly write down everything Gohan did.

Flurry giggled a bit more before walking over to the pile, her eyes wide in surprise. "Did the people of the kingdom really send me all these?" She said, sounding as though she hadn't expected anything like this.

"Not all, sugarcube. Ours are somewhere in there." Applejack said, a sweat drop dropping down the side of her face.

The party laughed at this as Flurry looked over at Gohan, tilting her head as he had moved a bit away from everyone, the boy nervously glancing at the window. It was getting dark out and this seemed to worry him. She walked over to him, tapping his shoulder and causing him to jump, making the princess giggle a bit. "You okay, Gohan?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I-I'm fine." He laughed nervously, causing Flurry Heart to narrow her eyes at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I-it's nothing, but just curious, w-when is the next full moon?"

Flurry tilted her head in confusion before turning to the people talking amongst themselves. "Auntie Luna, when are you making the next full moon?"

Gohan lifted a brow at this, clearly confused as to why she'd be asking her aunt when she was making a moon! But, Luna answered, further pushing the saiyan warrior into the dark. "Well, not for another week or so, why do you ask?"

The half blood sighed in relief, catching Flurry's attention again. She then smiled broadly. "Hey, Gohan!" The boy looked at the young girl, a bit startled at her sudden outburst. "Could you tell us a story from your life for my birthday?"

"Flurry." Her father scolded, causing the alicorn-blood to pout.

Gohan laughed a bit as he moved to the hearth in the room, forming a ball of ki in his hand before expelling it into the fire, lighting up the sticks and logs already in it. Those in attendance gasped whilst the fighter simply threw more wood on the fire. "I'd be happy to, birthday girl." Flurry giggled and nodded, the rest of the present people still trying to wrap their heads around the odd magic that this creature just used, Twilight's quill moving at a hundred miles an hour. He turned to the rest of them and sat down in front of the fire.

"I think a good way to begin would be to start from the beginning. My father's name is Son Goku and he is my worlds greatest warrior. Kind, gentle, fierce, and strong. My father was and still is my hero. The gi I'm wearing is modeled very closely to his own."

"Your father didn't have very good taste in clothing, did he?" Rarity asked.

A dark scowl crossed Gohan's face for the briefest of moments before he put on a smile, though the scowl didn't escape the gazes of Shining Armor and Spike, making mental notes to not inadvertently insult his father. "Well, my dad didn't become a hero because of his fashion sense."

Rarity's eyes widened a bit at this. "Oh, I'm sorry, Gohan, I didn't mean-"

"It's alright. I know you didn't mean anything by it." Gohan smiled kindly at the woman, causing her to blush a bit, earning a strained laugh from her husband. "Anyway, I guess if I'm gonna start my story, I should start with his. My father was adopted by a kind old man who lived at the top of Mount Paoz. This man's name was Gohan…" The young warrior began telling the story of his father, from when he met Bulma, to his first tournament, the Red Ribbon Army, to the deaths of his friends at the hands of Demon King Piccolo and his offspring.

He told them of his fathers final battle with Majunior, or Piccolo Jr., his eventual teacher. The story went on for some time. It earned many laughs and some tears, but the conviction in his voice told them this boy was telling the truth.

"It was at the same tournament my father fought Piccolo again that he married my mother. About a year later, Mom gave birth to me." Gohan's demeanor darkened a bit. "Four years later, the Earth had been at peace for so long. A man, a Saiyan warrior by the name of Raditz landed on our planet, looking for his little brother so they could purge the planet and prep it for auction."

The people in attendance gasped collectively as they were given this information. "That's horrible!" Celestia cried, Gohan donning an emotionless smirk.

"That's not even the worst part. Raditz's brother, Kakarot, is actually my father, Son Goku, meaning that monster was my uncle." The rest of the party was too shocked for words, so the boy continued.

"Raditz decided to use me as leverage against my father, wounding him and kidnapping me. Dad was nowhere near strong enough to fight Raditz, nor was Piccolo, but together they thought they had a shot. They were… less than successful in that endeavor.

Piccolo lost an arm and my dad was too broken to fight back anymore as Raditz began crushing him under his boot. Even in his ship, I could hear my father screaming in pain. Something in me snapped. I obliterated the ship, jumped from the wreckage and landed in front of Raditz. I screamed at him to stop hurting my father and lunged full force into his chest, shattering his armor and severely wounding him. I tried to run to my dad's side, but Raditz was nothing if not resilient.

He walked over to us and bashed me in the side of the head. I don't remember anything after that point, but from what Piccolo told me, my father caught Raditz in a full nelson and Piccolo bore a blast through both their chests. My dad sacrificed himself to save the Earth from his own brother."

The women (and Shining Armor) sniffled lightly. "Gohan." The young half-breed turned to Twilight, who was wiping her cheeks. "When you said you descend from a warrior race, you meant the Saiyans?"

He nodded. "The Saiyans were known throughout the universe as some of cruelest and most powerful warriors in existence. They were basically galactic pirates, going from one planet to the next, killing the indigenous life forms and selling the planet. But, beyond that, Saiyan's all have one thing in common: A love for combat. We love fighting stronger opponents and testing our limits. It's our greatest pride and our greatest weakness. Even I can't say that I don't enjoy a good fight every now and again. I don't like fighting without a point and I detest senseless murder, but I do enjoy training and even fighting with my dad or Piccolo."

"Wait, how do you train or fight with your dad? Didn't he die?" Flurry asked, earning a smack upside the head from her mother. "Ow!"

Gohan laughed lightly and nodded. "Yes, he did, but we brought him back a year later."

"Ah, those Dragon Balls you told us about, correct?" Luna asked.

Gohan nodded again and smiled. "The very same. But, for now, I'll leave the story there." The room was quickly filled with disappointed groans, even from Celestia and Luna. "Don't worry, I'll tell you all the rest of the story before I find a way home. But, right now, shouldn't Flurry be opening her gifts?"

Flurry gasped happily and looked up at her parents. They nodded and she hopped up and ran over to the pile of gifts, before being stopped short by their impromptu guest. He fished a capsule out of his gi's pocket, pressing the button grabbing the item that came from the puff of smoke. It was a small sheathe with a rope attached and a small red pole sticking out from the top.

"Happy birthday, Flurry. This is the Power Pole, an heirloom my father gave me when I was younger." The girl gingerly took the sheathe, pulling the staff from it.

"It's… really small."

Gohan chuckled as he held a hand out to take the staff back. The younger female placed it in his hands, the saiyan spinning it between his fingers, before smirking. "Power pole, Extend!" Immediately, the pole shot to twice it's original length with Gohan expertly twirling it around his body. "This pole is magic. It can extend to any length you want, or shrink, and it's completely indestructible."

Flurry's face lit up as Gohan exhibited what the powerful tool was capable of, topping it off with a behind-the-back spin. He twirled it between his fingers a couple more times, just to show off, before shrinking it back down. He slid it back into it's sheathe, looking over at the birthday girl's parents. Cadence seemed a bit conflicted, but Shining Armor didn't see any problem with it and nodded. The saiyan child turned back to to the alicorn-blood child and presented the staff back to her.

She took it eagerly before a nervous look crossed her face, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "Um, Gohan, do-do you think you could teach me how to use it?"

Gohan chuckled again, patting her head. "I'd be happy to, Flurry."

"Gohan." The fighter turned to the Crystal Princess as she called him. "Not that I'm not grateful, surprised, but grateful that you gave Flurry such a nice gift, I'd like to ask why?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't usually use a weapon when I fight." he stated. "I believe that if you can't settle a confrontation with your words or your fists, you shouldn't have gotten into it. Plus, my father told me when he gave the staff to me that when I found someone I believed would use it for the right reasons, that I needed to pass it on." He looked back at Flurry and smiled. "When I look into Flurry Heart's eyes, I see a girl a lot like me. Someone who'll find anyway she can to avoid violence, but won't hesitate if it means protecting someone she loves."

Flurry blushed brightly as she smiled sheepishly, her wings coming around to hide her face. Gohan and the others got a quick laugh out of this, even Fluttershy, who did the same thing anytime she was embarrassed. Gohan swung the pole around her back, pulled the ropes back to the front and tying them off so the sheathe hung off her back at an angle so she could grab it."Come on, Flurry, you've got other presents to open."

The alicorn-blood nodded, hugged Gohan tight, then ran to the rest of her presents. She grabbed a green one from the pile with a grunt, noting how heavy it was. Gohan had been blushing a bit as she hugged him, still not all that used to female affection, but it was quickly forgotten as he sensed something… it was momentary and minute, but he knew he sensed it. Malice. "This one is from a Miss… Chrys… Chrysalis?"

All the people familiar with the name in the room eyes widened as Shining Armor and Cadence made a dive for their daughter, only to be blasted back by two bolts of magic. The other Equestrians (and saiyan) in the room were quickly blinded as the room was flooded with light. Flurry's shriek filled the room alongside the sound of shattering glass. "Dammit!" Gohan moved towards the sound, only to be tackled to the ground.

He gave a rage filled cry, his ki shoving his attackers away and into the walls. His vision finally began to clear up as he started looking around for Flurry or their attackers, shocked to see that the room was filled with them. They were… odd looking, to say the least. They were like beetle people in the shape of humans. They're skin seemed to gleam like chitin and there were holes everywhere in their legs and arms.

"What in the name of Dende are these things?!" Gohan cried as he tried to piece what the hell just happened together.

"Changelings. Where did you take my daughter, you monsters?!" Shining armor bellowed, a broad sword appearing in his hand with a bright flash.

The changelings simply laughed, transforming into the Equestrians (and saiyan) in the room. "Queen Chrysalis has her plans for her. Plans you don't need to know."

Gohan stepped forward, rage clear on his face as the floor under his feet began to crack. "You have five seconds to tell us where she is before I have to tear it out of you." he said, the changelings backing away slowly.

The lead invader shook his head and stared the boy down. "Enough! Like we said, you don't need to know! All you need to know is that we changelings will be taking Equestria for ourselves!"

Gohan growled as his aura sprang to life around him, shoving both the changelings and people back. "I don't give a damn who or what you are, this ends NOW!" With that final word, the fighters aura exploded around him, creating an impact crater under his feet, and he launched himself into the group of changelings, oblivious to the others following him.

* * *

"****How goes the plan, General?" ****Chrysalis asked over the mirror the changeling commander held.

"All according to plan, my queen. They fell for our trap and Princess Flurry Heart is currently on her way."

"General Diserex!" a grunt screamed as he flew to the elder changeling, kneeling down in his imposing presence.

"Speak."

"Sir, something has gone awry. The princesses and Elements our warriors could stave off for a bit, but there is a massive source of power in the castle tearing our forces apart like tissue paper. We've lost the entire forward guard!"

"What?!" Diserex bellowed, the pressure of his power plowing the poor changeling into the earth beneath him. "How could our entire forward guard be gone already?!"

"I-I don't know, sir! Please, I'm sorry! I'm only a worker! Please, show mercy!" the young changeling cried out as his body was slowly crushed under the generals power.

"****Diserex." ****The general let his energy go lax as he turned back to the queen. ****"Is something wrong?"****

"Nothing, milady, just a minor annoyance. It will dealt with posthaste." He answered, saluting his queen before cutting the connection.

"Uh, sir?" The changeling grunt said, standing shakily to his feet. The general turned back to him, anger clear on his face. "I was sent here to inform you that whatever destroyed the forward guard is tracking Flurry Heart and is on it's way here."

The changeling warrior growled fiercely. "Inform the advanced guard that they are to intercept and destroy whatever this interloper happens to be. And tell the carriers to make the princess watch as her hero is destroyed. Hope is a dangerous force and it must be crushed."

"Yessir!" The changeling turned and flew off quickly, leaving the general to his thoughts. __What kind of creature could devastate over a hundred changelings that quickly without destroying the palace in the process? Celestia, Luna, Cadenza, even the Elements have the power to stop our forces dead, but not like that and not that precisely. I should go and see this for myself.__

* * *

Gohan, Rainbow Dash, and Spike flew as fast as they could (as fast as Dash and Spike could), trying to catch up with the changelings. He growled in frustration as he kept track of Flurry's energy. If only I could speed up a bit, I'd catch them!

"How the hell are they so fast?! I'm the fastest flier in Equestria!" Rainbow screamed.

"We've gotta be getting close!" Spike shouted.

"They're not too far ahead of us, about a hundred yards!" Gohan said.

"How do you know?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I can sense her ki, her life energy! It's how I've been tracking her this whole time!"

"That is AWESOME! You have gotta teach me that!"

"Dash, can you not right now?! We got a girl to save!" Spike scolded, flapping his wings harder.

Gohan had had just about enough. No, he didn't really know these people, but he did like Flurry, at least enough to want her to be his friend, and even if that weren't the case, he'd be damned if he was just gonna sit back and let an innocent get hurt. He floated over to Spike first, pulling him close much to the drakes surprise. Next, he grabbed Rainbow Dash.

"H-hey, watch where you're grabbing, kid!" cried the red faced pegasus-blood.

"Hold on tight!" was the only warning he gave before he surged forward, an ear shattering sonic boom sounding behind him. Neither Spike or Rainbow were able to open their eyes, the wind was too strong. Considering Dash was the fastest flier in Equestria, that was some serious speed he was putting out.

In no time at all, the changelings came into view, a thrashing, kicking, and biting Flurry in between them. They turned in time to see an enraged saiyan stop dead in front of them, releasing his 'cargo'. The two fliers took a moment to let their stomachs catch up before confronting the two changelings alongside Gohan.

"Let her go." The boy said, his teal eyes glazed over in fury. His anger was so potent at that moment that he was consciously staving off his transformation.

The two enemy fliers flinched at the venom in his words, but kept a hold on her. "Let me go, you backwards, bug brained idiots so I can shove my feet up your tail holes!" Flurry screamed, thrashing around harder. Gohan chuckled a bit at this, but shelved it.

As the three were about to attack, three other bodies appeared in front of them in a flash of light. Rainbow and Spike turned away, but Gohan didn't bother, simply staring the new fighters down.

"An admirable feat, my friends, but this where your little rescue mission comes to an end."

"… I got this. Pretty one," Gohan looked to the slimmest of the three, his hair (or whatever it was) straight and shimmering slightly. "Stupid one," He looked to the hulking mass of muscle and chitin. "One with the freaky powers." He turned to the last, a mid build changeling with a scar over it's right eye.

"Oi!" The big one cried. "I appreciate that, but I'd say I'm more handsome than pretty."

"And my powers aren't that freaky!" The pretty one said. The last one just gave some kind of roar.

Gohan was struck silent for a moment. "Okay, I take it back, you're all stupid." He turned to the other two. "I can handle these three, go and get Flurry and get her home safe. I'll meet you back there once I clean up." Besides, even if they wanted to fight, these three would tear them apart. They're all as powerful if not stronger than Recoome.

"Oh, no way in Tartarus am I letting you fight-" Spike put a claw on the hotheaded woman's shoulder.

"He's right, Rainbow. Let him handle these guys."

"Somebody better check the clock, cause I do believe it's go time!" The big one rushed a now smirking Gohan, punching through what he thought was the boy's chest when in reality it was only the top of his gi.

"Ole." He said sarcastically before slamming the tip of his elbow into the changeling's skull, sending him flying down. The freaky one rushed in with a flurry of attacks, all of which Gohan dodged or deflected. "Go now, you two! Flurry's getting away!"

The two shocked beings shook their heads before taking off after their target. The big one launched himself back into the air as Gohan focused on the one currently trying to punch a hole in his face. He noticed the attacker and fired an energy blast. The one he was fighting used his power to open a hole in his chest, laughing triumphantly.

"You idiot! He wasn't aiming for you!" Another large blast then consumed the freaky one, disintegrating him. "That time he was though."

Rainbow and Spike turned back to see the big one chasing after them and closing fast, but something else was following him. It looked like that odd ball of energy that Gohan had used to light the fire in the common room.

The other flier turned back to see the ball as it closed on him. "No, no, no, no!" He started trying to outmaneuver it, but it was following his every move. "Nononononono, NO!" He finally decided to try and stop the blast, but was quickly overwhelmed, joining his friend in oblivion.

The pegasus and dragon-blood had no idea what they just saw, but they didn't have time to think about it as the third crony went flying past them, screaming, Gohan close behind. The changeling extended a magic blade from his hand, slashing at the saiyan child wildly until said child caught the blade between his fingers.

"Good game, but not good enough I'm afraid." The fighter punched through the changeling's chest, covering his forearm in greenish-purple blood before sending him flying down. The boy turned from the falling changeling back to his target, blasting off full speed ahead.

As he drew close, he saw Flurry flying towards him and saw that Dash and Spike were tangling with the changelings that had been carrying her, Spike having less trouble than Dash. She had them in speed, but it was obvious they had more combat experience. He flew past Flurry, slamming his foot into the changeling fighting the rainbow haired pegasus-blood. The force of his kick was great enough that it sent the changeling flying to the ground below and across it for several hundred feet.

The other changeling turned to them, taking it's eyes off Spike who put his clawed hands around his opponents head, a large surge of electricity being expelled from the palms of his hands. The creature gave a blood chilling shriek before it went silent, the dragon-blood grabbing it's body by the head and throwing it to the ground with as much force as Gohan had used the kick the first one.

Rainbow Dash was pretty well shocked by that little display her friend just made. "A little trick I learned some of my people are capable of while I was training in the Dragon Lands."

Flurry flew up to them quickly, hugging Gohan first for two reasons. One: It was Gohan and she liked him. Two: He was closest. She did notice something though. "Hey, Gohan, weren't your eyes black before?"

The half-breed chuckled nervously before a tremendous power revealed itself, flying towards them fast. He shifted around, putting himself between this new enemy and the young princess.

A massive changeling appeared before him, a light green caped around his shoulders and a form fitting uniform that matched it. He had a large, gnarled horn that stuck from his forehead and piercing blue eyes, unlike the other changelings he'd fought so far. His hair was snow white and fell around his face in the front until it reached his temples, being shaved short the rest of the way back, like a crew cut. He wore two golden earrings and a slight smirk. He stood every bit as tall as Goku and had a heavier muscle structure than Tienshinhan.

"Well, I'm guessing you're the one who gave my fighters so much trouble, child." The elder being addressed Gohan, affixing his gaze on the half breed. The air became super charged with raw power as the warriors stared each other down, sparks actually beginning to appear in the air around them.

"I was, if you call those scrawny pukes fighters." Gohan sneered, letting his inner Saiyan have a bit more fun.

The changeling laughed. "Yes, well, if I'd known we'd be entertaining a true warrior, I'd of met you myself. General Diserex, first son of the exalted Queen Chrysalis."

"Son Gohan, first son of Son Goku, the saiyan who defeated the tyrant warlord, Frieza."

"I'll take your word for it as I have no idea who that is." Diserex said dismissively, a smile spreading over his face. "But, if your power is any indicator, I'm sure both your father and this Frieza were very powerful in their own right."

"My father and I have long since surpassed Frieza in power." __Good thing, too. This guy's every bit as strong as Princess Celestia and she's about as powerful as Frieza at full power. How is it we never sensed these people?__

"Oh? Is that so? Well, if you're that much stronger than this 'tryant', why not indulge me a bit?" He said with a sneer.

Flurry began pulling on Gohan's arm, trying to pull him away. Gohan simply turned and smiled kindly at her, patting her head. "I'll be okay. I can handle this. Go back to the castle where it's safe and wait for me."

The girl looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't, simply hugging him again, this time blushing as she felt his arms wrap around her for a moment. "Promise you'll come back?"

"Promise." He let her go and pushed her towards Rainbow and Spike before turning back to Diserex. Flurry's bottom lip quivered before taking her escorts hands and activating a spell. With a bright flash, the three were gone, leaving the saiyan warrior with the changeling general. Gohan smiled lightly. "Thanks for waiting."

The elder man smiled in return. "I don't like involving others in my battles. I can simply recover the princess once you're dealt with."

The boy chuckled a bit and floated forward, extending his fist. "You may be my enemy, but that doesn't mean I can't show a warrior that understands honor proper respect. You have earned that respect in my eyes."

Diserex followed his example, his wings buzzing lightly as he floated forward, letting his fist meet Gohan's in a show of mutual respect. "Well, respect is good to have, but let's see if that life of yours is up for grabs."

The young fighter laughed lightly as he floated back. "No offense, but better people than you have tried and failed."

Diserex laughed loudly as he returned to his place. "No, my boy. Different people, not better." He gave a loud, prolonged scream as he flooded the area with his energy, his aura a sickly green color. Gohan gasped a bit as the elder fighters energy skyrocketed.

__Damn! There's no way I can beat this guy without getting serious! There goes war of attrition. Depend it is!__ Gohan followed the generals lead, his black hair flying and shifting around his face as his energy exploded, causing the ground several hundred feet beneath them the shatter and rise into air around them, bolts or power arcing between them. A white flame-like aura erupted around him, releasing a white column of light, matching Diserex's in size and potency, the storm between them growing in severity.

With twin cries of excitement on the part of Diserex and anger on Gohan's part, the two began their war with a thundering clash of their outstretched fists, the two backing off only a few feet from each other, charging twin blasts in their hands before slamming them into each other, the clashing energies growing into a large orb in between them, the shockwaves shaking the kingdom beneath them.

** **Will Gohan defeat the powerful Diserex, Changeling General and first son of Chrysalis, or will the invading armies leader prevail over Goku's first born child? The battle of elders takes place, next time on Crystal Vanguard!** **

Diserex: ****Let's see if you have what it takes to back up your claims, boy!****

Gohan: ****I can't just sit back let you do what you want, Diserex! Your invasion ends now!****

* * *

** **The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boys neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.** **

****Gohan: ****Hey guys, it's Gohan!

****Flurry Heart:**** And Flurry!

****Gohan:**** Dammit! I can't seem to land a single worthwhile blow! How is he so strong?! This keeps up, I may have to transform just to stay alive! Wait, his power comes from what?!

****Diserex:**** My, you're an angry young one aren't you? Your wrath is quite strong.

****Gohan: ****Sorry, but I have a party to get back to. ****KAMEHAMEHA!****

****Flurry Heart: ****Next time on Crystal Vanguard: Mounting Pressure! General Diserex Attacks!

****Diserex: ****I'm enjoying myself, Gohan. Don't give in now. Entertain me a bit longer.


	2. Mounting Pressure! General Diserex Attacks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguard logo appears.
> 
> Last time on Crystal Vanguard, Gohan awoke in a room not his own, quickly finding out that an accident had brought him there. The only problem is that he doesn't remember what that accident was. He quickly befriended the young princess whose room he was occupying, Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire and was told of another thing: It was her birthday! After a party and a few presents, the camaraderie was ended by a surprise attack by the kingdom old enemies, the Changelings, and their leader, the first son of Chrysalis, Diserex.
> 
> After chasing down the Changelings and retrieving Flurry, Gohan, Spike, and Rainbow Dash were confronted by the General. Gohan told them to return to the castle, leaving him alone with the Changeling warrior. Will Gohan overcome the elder warriors ferocity? Find out now!

Piccolo flew at top speed around the Earth, his sharp eyes searching for anything, any sort of sign that his student was still with them. King Kai and King Yemma hadn't seen a soul like Gohan's pass through check in, but Goku said he'd keep a look out.

It has been almost six months since the Cell Games, since the day Piccolo watched the closest thing he'd ever had to a son of his own destroy the Earths greatest threat. There were no words to describe the pride he felt watching that. Now, six months down the line, Gohan had been keeping up with his studies and his training. The namek could remember with a smile how the half-saiyan told his mother he'd keep studying, but that he wanted to be a fighter as well as a scholar.

_"Mom, I know you want what's best for me, but I need to be able to do what I want to as well. And I want to be a fighter like Dad. I want to protect my home, my loved ones, just like he did. This is all I have left of Dad, to carry on his legacy. Please, don't take that away from me."_ he had pleaded. Even his hot headed banshee of a mother couldn't argue with that, simply telling him that if he started falling behind, he was done.

Gohan agreed and had been spending two weeks out of every month with Piccolo on the Lookout training and one with Vegeta to learn about his people, until they found out Chi-chi was pregnant.

His training slowed to a week a month up at the Lookout and the rest at home so he could be close by with Vegeta visiting to teach 'Kakarot's half-breed brat about the glorious race he descended from'. He had wanted to train with Vegeta a bit as well, but any passion he'd had for fighting was long gone.

**_Piccolo, what do you honestly hope to find? It's obvious that he's not on Earth anymore._** Kami said, trying to understand his fellows Nameks decision.

** **Yeah, man. You've been at this for four days now. Maybe it's time to pack it in and get some sleep.** **

"I'll sleep when I'm dead!" He barked at Nail, ignoring his fatiguing body. He had to find Gohan. He had to.

_ **Piccolo, Gohan destroyed Cell and his demon spawn. He can handle himself, wherever he is. You just have to have faith in the boy.** _

Piccolo sighed in defeat, turning around and blasting off for the Lookout. He hated to admit it, but Nail and Kami were right. There was little point in killing himself like this. Wherever Gohan was, he could handle what came.

* * *

_I cannot handle this!_ Gohan mentally screamed before being ax kicked down into the city below, crashing through the crystalline earth below. He pulled himself from the impact crater just in time to dodge a dive bomb kick from his attacker, the changeling general, Diserex.

Gohan was panting hard and they had only been fighting for a few minutes. His wounds were taking their toll and Diserex wasn't making it any better. No matter what he did, it didn't seem to make a bit of difference. The changeling was shrugging off his hardest strikes like they were nothing! The boy jumped into the air, clashing with his opponent once more.

The air shook violently as the changeling and Saiyan traded almost supersonic blows, Gohan's being caught, dodged, or deflected as his opponent struck him harder and harder with each passing second.

He jumped and grabbed the changelings leg as he came in for a quick spinning kick aimed at Gohan's head. "Please, Diserex, there's no need for this! We don't have to fight! There's no point in it!" He cried, hoping the general would actually have a bit of humanity. It was a long shot, but one worth going for.

Diserex simply scoffed, a green light surrounding his gnarled horn before a beam of magic slammed into the boys gut, throwing him back. "Now, Gohan, you didn't actually that would work, did you? Even if I were to walk away, another monster far worse would take my place. So, let's not waste each other's time talking and finish this!" He gave a powerful roar, his aura erupting around him and pushing his Saiyan opponent back hard.

Gohan covered his eyes as the wind kicked up around his enemy. "I don't understand! How can you be getting so strong?! Your power just seems to keep… growing." That's when it hit him. "No way!"

The changeling laughed loudly as he glowered down at the boy. "Looks like you figured it out. Well, since this is to be your last moment, I guess I should explain. You see, Gohan, emotions are a very powerful thing. Each emotion you feel gives off a bit of energy, but the strongest of those feelings are rage, hatred, and love. Many of my race feed on the energy given off by beings who feel this love, but me," Diserex chuckled as he clenched his fist a few times. "I'm a bit different. Like my mother, I can survive and strengthen myself on any powerful emotion, meaning the angrier I make you, the stronger I get." He finished with a sneer.

The Saiyan's eyes widened in shock. "But then that means this whole time you've been feeding off my emotions!" Diserex's sneer turned to a dark smirk as Gohan's body shook in anger, images of Android #19 beating his father coming to the forefront of his mind. He gave a mighty roar, his energy pushing the changeling back, not much, but enough to catch him off guard. "NOW YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF!"

Gohan rushed in, having caught his second wind, and Diserex too slow to catch him before the boy's knee met the center of his chest, said boy unleashing a high-speed flurry of attacks, stopping short as he saw the changeling smirk. He realized his mistake too late as Diserex slammed his fist home, an almost cartoonish bulge coming out of Gohan's back.

_Dammit, this is bad. I can't keep up with this. He just keeps getting stronger! I've gotta come up with a strategy or something, or he's gonna kill me! Maybe I should transform and- _Gohan's thoughts were cut short after taking a heavy-handed left to the face, sending him crashing through a few more buildings. He was slow to rise again, spitting a bit of blood onto the floor of the house he was in. He looked up and saw the family that lived there, a mother unicorn-blood, a father earth-blood and their daughter, a pegasus-blood, the father putting himself in front of his family. Gohan's eyes widened in shock as a shadow began to fall over him.

"Get out of here, now!" The boy gave a cry of pain as Diserex pulled him up by his black locks, slamming his knee into the side of the child's ribs, more blood shooting from his mouth. The family heeded Gohan and ran from the house, freezing once Diserex turned his gaze towards them. The changeling only stared for a moment before he bent down and picked up a teddy bear from the floor, dropping it to the girl before stepping aside, letting them run.

"I have to say, Gohan, I'm rather disappointed!" The general said, tossing Gohan into the air, following after him and slamming his knee into the boys' gut before slamming his balled-up fists into the half-breeds back, or so he thought as he struck through an afterimage.

The elder fighter turned quickly as Gohan attacked with a hard right hook, knocking a mouthful of spittle from his mouth, before following up with a roundhouse kick, passing through the changelings own afterimage. "I honestly expected more from the son of the man who defeated this Frieza. Maybe I was wrong in assuming this was an actual achievement." he said from behind his opponent with a sneer, the boy turning to face him.

"DON'T YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT MY FATHER!" Gohan roared as he rushed the changeling, using the power his anger gave him to break the general's defenses with a brutal gut check of his own before unleashing a savage series of punches, alternating between striking him in the gut and face before floating behind him and planting his boot squarely into Diserex's back, sending him flying back down into the city.

The Saiyan child landed and sensed that there was no one in that direction before slamming the heels of his palms together, bringing his hands to rest just at the side of his navel. He didn't hear or notice that Flurry's parents had appeared behind him. ****"Kaaaaa, Meeeee, Haaaaa, Meeeee,"****

Diserex tore his way through the rubble, rushing toward the younger male, his eyes widening a bit as he saw the energy gathering in between his cupped hands. Time seemed to slow as Gohan smirked at the changeling general for a moment, "Checkmate, Diserex. ****HAAAAA!****" He threw his hands forward and unleashed the pent up energy, straight into the older man's chest.

The large blue beam that erupted from his hands slammed full force into Diserex, the changeling screaming as it plowed him into the ground and across the city, finally exploding several hundred feet away. Yeah, he probably caused a good bit of damage to the city, carving a massive trench through the center and a pretty big crater to go with it, but at least he didn't hit any of the houses or people.

He then noticed two higher than average power levels behind him, turning to look at the awestruck Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. He smiled sheepishly at them until an explosion rocked the ground under their feet, a large column of dust erupting from the ground.

Gohan scowled and took his stance again, his energy flaring again. _Does this guy run on batteries or something?!_

* * *

Cadence sobbed into Shining Armors' arms as he tried to comfort the near-hysterical princess. The other princesses and women in the room began to wonder to themselves 'Why didn't I go with them? Why did I stay here?'

It had been Gohan that had convinced them to stay behind. 'Too many people will give the group away faster. Besides, a smaller group will move faster. Stay here and protect your home. Flurry will be back by the end of the night. I promise.'

"We should have gone with them." Luna said, staring into the hearth.

"What could we have done? Even wounded, it's obvious Gohan was far more skilled and prepared than us, Luna." Celestia said, the memory of Gohan tearing the changelings apart as if they were nothing more than flies still fresh in her mind.

Many of the changelings were being interrogated by the castle guards, though just as many were unconscious. His attacks were powerful, evidenced by the fact that many of the unconscious changelings were planted into the floor or wall, but none were lethal.

The sheer amount of training he'd have to have undergone to garner that level of strength is beyond imagination, but to use it non-lethally? That child is truly something special.

A bright light filled the room, and the people in it had to shield their eyes for a moment, looking as they noticed the light dim to reveal Flurry with Spike and Rainbow Dash. The young girl smiled brightly before her eyes fluttered closed, falling into the waiting arms of Spike, who handed her off to her ecstatic parents.

"Where's Gohan?" Fluttershy asked, her answering being something akin to an explosion rocking the castle. They all looked outside to see two columns of light shooting into the air, one white with a brilliant gold outlining, the other a sickly green color. After a few moments, the column's vanished and more concussive forces began rocking the kingdom.

"What in the name of the Princesses is going on out there?!" Twilight shouted, holding onto a table.

Pinkie Pie jumped to her feet, somehow producing a spyglass from her fluffy mess of hair, causing Twilight to just stare in shock. The pink-haired woman stood by the window, aiming her amped up vision in the direction of the shock-waves, gasping and freezing in place.

Luna looked at the younger woman, walking over to her. Before she could say anything, Pinkie offered her the spyglass without looking away. The Princess of the Night put the telescope to her eye, shocked at she saw. _Diserex?! But he was- And Gohan is fighting him?! What in the name of The Creators is happening!?_

"What is it, Sister?" Celestia asked.

"I-it's Diserex. Gohan is fighting Diserex and he's holding his own!" Luna cried out, unable to stop watching._ Just not very well. At least he isn't dead yet._

Flurry groaned a bit as she began waking up, trying to listen to the voices around her. She vaguely noticed she was being held by someone, a familiar someone. She opened her eyes, letting them adjust to see it was her mother. She noticed everyone staring out the window and that the castle was shaking. "Is that boy insane!? He's still wounded! Diserex is going to tear him apart!" Celestia's words were accompanied by another rumble.

Flurry sat up and jumped out of her mother's grasp, despite her mother's best efforts to keep her there, running over to the window. What she saw was Gohan's body fly into the air, the man that had stopped them before appearing above him and striking down through him, only for the boy to vanish and appear behind the changeling, only to get the same problem, kicking through the older males head. The changeling appeared behind the fighter and said something, to which Gohan responded with "DON'T YOU TALK SHIT ABOUT MY FATHER!"

This shocked everyone as they were several hundred feet away. Hearing them was one thing, but well enough to understand him was another. Diserex must have said something that really set him off because they were watching this boy, not much older than their youngest member, taking apart one of Equestria's greatest threats.

"We have to help him!" Flurry cried, tugging hard on her father's uniform. He simply looked at her and then at Cadence. The alicorn-blood woman took her husband's hand and nodded.

Shining Armor smiled and knelt down to look his daughter in the eye. "Flurry, baby, I want you to stay here." She opened her mouth to argue, Shining putting his finger on her mouth, a smile on his face. "I'll be back." He lifted his pinkie to her, the girl wrapping hers around it.

"****Pinkie Promise." ****they said together, before Armor stood, taking his wife's hand, who bent and kissed her daughter's head. She stood and took her husband's hand again, her horn glowing brightly before they vanished from the room.

The two reappeared in the center of the urban district where most of their festivals were held. "Cadence, you were focusing on Gohan, right?" They both gave a quick shout of surprise as they saw one of the two combatants slamming into the ground several hundred feet away. Gohan landed not too long after, taking a deep horse stance (ha!) before cupping his hands together and bringing them down to his navel. ****"Kaaaaaa, Meeeeee, Haaaaa, Meeeee," ****The two rulers watched in awe as they felt the air become thick with energy, a small ball of blue energy forming in the child's hands.

Armor and Cadence jumped as they heard Diserex start flying back towards them, Cadence preparing the strongest offensive spell she had while her husband prepped a shielding spell to protect his daughter's newest friend. There was no way they could beat this Diserex, but they'd be damned if they let a child- ****"HAAAAAAA!" ****Gohan threw his hands forward, a massive beam that obscured the castle from their view erupting from his hands, a similar view causing the denizens of the castle to become speechless. Even Twilight dropped her book and quill.

The beam slammed full force into Diserex, the changeling warlord screaming as he was plowed into the earth and pushed through the center of the city, a massive blast following, leaving the city's center as a four-block crater.

"T-that attack… I've never seen anything like it…" Cadence whispered in awe, watching the young man as he simply stared out at the crater. Gohan seemed to finally notice their presence, turning to smile at them shyly before an explosion and a cloud of dust erupted from the crater, the Saiyan warrior turning to look at it, taking his stance once more.

The dust was blown away as the air became charged with energy, revealing a wounded and bleeding Diserex. The changeling floated over and landed in front of the three, Cadence and Armor preparing a teleportation spell in case.

Diserex was panting hard, one of his wings badly burnt and his left arm obviously broken. "How? How were you able to muster so much power into that attack? If you had that kind of power, why not use it before?"

Gohan slipped back into a relaxed standing position, smiling a bit at the general. "I told you before. This fighting is pointless. I won't lie and say fighting you hasn't been fun, it's in my blood to enjoy fighting. But this..." He gestured to the destroyed city, a sad look on his young face. "This isn't right. These people, they're innocent." He looked back to Diserex with a solemn look on his face. "When you threw me into that house, you let that family go. If your intention is to take over Equestria and crush those who won't obey your rule, why did you let them go?"

"I told you before, I have a code about involving innocent lives. If you'll notice, my men have not harmed a single citizen here." Gohan did a quick check and found that Diserex was telling the truth.

Gohan smiled softly, his respect growing for the elder warrior. "You and I might be friends if it weren't for your choice of allies, Diserex." His smile disappeared as his energy began rising again. "There's no way I can talk out of this, is there?" The changeling warrior only smiled. "Didn't think so." The boy widened his stance a bit, his white aura shifting to gold as his hair began to flutter a bit around his face.

The elder fighter was taken back by how quickly this child's power was expanding, but his thoughts were cut off by one of his changelings flying to them. The grunt landed and knelt before his superior. "Lord Diserex, I have a message from Queen Chrysalis. We are to pull back immediately."

"What?!" He bellowed, bolts of green bio-electric lightning coursing around his body. He growled for a moment before finally turning away from Gohan, who simply stood, watching this unfold. "Inform the rest of our forces that we are withdrawing."

"Yessir!" The changeling said before flying off as fast as his wings could carry him.

Diserex turned to Gohan and smiled again. "Well, Son Gohan, it seems that our time has been cut short. What do you say we finish this the next time we see each other?"

Gohan smirked at the changeling warrior. "Sounds good to me, though you may regret giving me time to heal up."

Diserex only chuckled before turning and beginning to walk away. "You are a gentle soul, Gohan. I cannot promise that the next time we meet won't be the last, but I promise you one thing." He turned and smiled at the Saiyan. "That one thing is that when we fight again, I will not be Diserex, The General. I will be a warrior, fighting his opponent for the joy of fighting someone on his level." A bright green light enveloped his horn before enveloping him, blinding them all for a moment. When they looked back, he had vanished from sight.

Gohan gave a smile and a nod, though he knew that Diserex couldn't see it. He heaved a sigh of relief after a moment, watching all the other changelings leave. He then turned to his still speechless hosts and chuckled nervously. "Hey there."

The two just continued to stare. They looked at each other and smiled, turning back to Gohan, whom they noticed was now face down in the dirt, snoring away. They shared a small laugh between each other as they walked over to the sleeping boy, Armor bending down to lift him into his arms.

"Even wounded, he stood his ground and fought a warrior that even Celestia and Luna are wary of. All for people he just met." Cadence said softly, brushing some hair from his face. "He truly is something special."

"Ya know, if Flurry were to end up with a guy like him, I'd approve." Armor said, shifting Gohan a bit to fit in his arms more comfortably before simply using his magic to place the boy on his back.

The Princess of Love giggled a bit as she watched this, having seen the big softy do the same for their daughter more times then she could count. "I would too, but, I'm sure there is much, much more to him than what we've seen so far." Her smile turned to a slight frown. "I only hope that whatever it is that he keeps having nightmares about leaves him be. He doesn't deserve to hurt like that."

"We all have our burdens to bear, and he's shown us that combat and fighting are nothing new to him. If his stories are true, then it's a miracle this kid hasn't lost his mind yet. I'm kinda convinced his father did." Her husband added with a chuckle, starting to walk back to the castle, too tired after the fighting to teleport them back, as was Cadence.

"Armor," Cadence said as she matched her husbands' stride. He hummed lightly and looked over at her. "You know that Flurry has been asking to go to Twilight's to study under now that Starlight Glimmer has moved back to Canterlot."

He nodded lightly, raising a brow in confusion. "We kept telling her no because we were anticipating this attack, just not the way it happened, and because we couldn't be entirely sure of her… safety." He stopped and looked at his wife, said woman stopping as well. "No."

"Armor, she needs to be allowed to grow."

"Flurry can grow just fine here, at home." He countered.

Cadence narrowed her violet eyes at her other half. "Shining Armor, how old were you when you joined the Guard Youth Training Corps?"

The unicorn-blood was silent for a few moments after that. "Nine, but that's-"

"And how old were you when you officially joined the Royal Sun Guard?"

"Thirteen, but still-"

"AND," The alicorn-blood said loudly, cutting him off again. "How old were you, Shining Armor, youngest Captain of the Guard in Equestrian history, when you were named Captain of the Guard?"

"… Nineteen."

"And how were you able to do all this?" She asked, her fists now resting on her hips.

He sighed in defeat, hanging his head a bit. "Because I took a chance and left home to follow my dreams."

Cadence smiled softly and gently cupped her husband's cheek, placing a light kiss on his lips, smiling a bit more as he returned it. She looked into his eyes as she pulled back. "Just because she leaves to follow her heart doesn't mean it won't lead her back to us. We'll always be here and we'll always be waiting for her, but if we give her the chance, she'll become so much more than we can see now."

He leaned into her hand a bit before they started walking back to the castle. "Alright. She can go. Besides, Twilight and the Elements have beaten every bad guy they've come across so far. And with Gohan, they've got some extra muscle. What's the worse that could happen?"

* * *

A wounded Diserex walked into the dimly lit throne of his mothers' hive, kneeling as he came within view. Chrysalis sat upon her throne of obsidian, her long legs hanging over one side while her upper half was supported by the other arm of her seat. She wore a simple, yet rather form-fitting and revealing, dress that accentuated her curves and bust. Her emerald green, cat-like eyes bore into the top of her first son's head. "Forgive me, my Queen, I have failed you."

The oddly distorted voice of the Changeling Queen gave a light chuckle. ****"You failed to retrieve Flurry Heart, yes, but your attack was not a total failure. In fact, I'd even be so kind as to call it a resounding success in a different fashion."****

Diserex looked up at the queen, confusion written on his face. He opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about, but she simply raised a hand to stop him. ****"Report to the medical personnel and have them fix that arm of yours. You're useless to me as you are now." ****She said dismissively.

The general bowed his head again, simply backing out of the throne room before a flash filled the hall, showing he'd teleported to the changelings that could help him.

Chrysalis smiled and started chuckling before it began to turn to a full-blown laugh. "****Oh, this is just too perfect! I wanted Flurry for revenge against that damned Mi Amore Cadenza and as a power source and what happens? An even greater power source drops into my lap! Now, the big part of this all is to find a way to get a hold of him, this 'Gohan'." ****The Changeling Queen chuckled as she licked the tips of her fingers as if she had just finished a delicious, satisfying meal. ****"I may have to speed up my little project. Once I have Gohan and Flurry, I can awaken 'it' and nothing will stand in my way."****

Chrysalis's laughter could be heard all across the Hive as it echoed across the halls. The changelings were prepared for war and Chrysalis would see to it that she stood after it was said and done.

* * *

** **The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boys neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.** **

****Gohan: ****Hey guys, it's Gohan!

****Flurry Heart:**** And Flurry!

****Gohan: ****Whew! That was a heck of a fight! I'm just happy it's over with.

****Cadence: ****I don't know about that Gohan, you did see the after episode filler right?

****Gohan: ****What?

****Flurry: ****Gohan, are you really gonna leave?

****Gohan: ****I've got to, Flurry. I've gotta find a way home and Twilight might be my best bet.

****Armor: ****Actually, Gohan there's something I'd like to talk to you about when you have the chance.

****Flurry: ****Next time on Crystal Vanguard!: A Long Train Ride Ahead! Welcome to Ponyville!

****Gohan: ****Whoa! That castle is huge! It's bigger than the town! That's where we're gonna be staying? Wait, YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LIBRARY!?


	3. A Long Train Ride Ahead! Welcome to Ponyville!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguard logo appears.
> 
> Last time on Crystal Vanguard, a wounded Gohan clashed with the powerful Diserex, General of the Changelings, who had launched an attack on the Crystal Empire in the hopes of absconding with the young Princess Flurry Heart.
> 
> Hoping to end the fight before it went much further, Gohan used his father's signature technique, badly wounding Diserex, but not enough to discourage the battle-hungry warrior.
> 
> Saved by the proverbial bell, Diserex promised that he and Gohan would settle things the next time they met, vanishing with the rest of his army.
> 
> The wounded boy promptly passed out into the arms of Prince Shining Armor, his beloved, Princess Cadance standing beside him. What is the plan these two have for the young warrior, and what are the plans of the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis? Find out now.

Flurry giggled as she ducked and weaved midair with Gohan chasing her, laughing as he kept reaching for her tail, only to have it slip from his grasp just as he was about to touch it. It had been five days since Gohan was able to turn Diserex and his army away and he'd been revered as a hero by the citizens of The Crystal Empire. He was showered with gifts and gratitude whenever he so much as walked by the entrance of the castle, making him retreat into his bedroom and hide under the bed.

He didn't like all this attention at all. He didn't know how to handle it. The Saiyan warrior only came out when Twilight and Flurry coaxed him out his room with promises of Applejacks homemade beef, apple, and cabbage stew and a new book to read as he'd already read all the books that Shining Armor had given him as well as a new outfit that matched his old casual wear outfit from his mother.

During his time in the Empire, Gohan had held to his promise to teach Flurry how to properly use the Power Pole, running her through a series of what he believed to be easy drills that normally left her panting, tired, sweaty, and sore. But even in that short period, they got results. Seemed Gohan was a pretty competent teacher.

And in that time she'd started teaching Gohan how to be a kid, including, but not limited to, pranking her father, her mother, Twilight and the other princesses, Pinkie Pie, Dash, who then helped them prank the others. They did a lot of pranks. Which normally ended with Gohan Instant Transmission-ing them out of the area.

In the heat of the moment whilst they were fighting the changelings, Gohan had forgotten that his father had (painstakingly) trained him in the Instant Transmission technique and the Spirit Bomb. He taught his young son the Kaioken, but Gohan said it would be more of a liability than an asset considering how powerful they were without it. He'd do more damage to himself using it than his opponent. They also learned that Goku was a pretty crappy teacher.

Gohan smirked before raising his energy a bit, flashing in front of Flurry and catching her in his arms, the younger girl giving a quick yelp of surprise. She was about to glare at him and remind he said he wouldn't use his full speed before she saw that goofy, kind smile. She blushed and smiled back before taking one of his hands in hers and putting his other hand at her waist, her free hand moving to his left shoulder.

He'd of been surprised by this if it hadn't been for the fact that he'd learned how much Flurry loved to dance and how good she was at it. He hummed a soft tune as they start dancing mid-air, the alicorn-blood princess giggling as she was spun out then back in.

They danced like that for a bit, her back to his chest, his arms seemingly wrapped around her as he hummed. Normally, something like this would have embarrassed him, but he did have to admit, it was fun and he knew his new friend danced her best when she was happy. Plus, it was a nice way to unwind after

He spun her around, dipping her down with her laughing as he did, the princess extending her arms out as she leaned down. A voice from behind them caused them both to jump and float away from each other, their faces bright red. "Having fun, you two?" They looked over at Flurry's mother, the alicorn-blood chuckling before gesturing to the balcony of the castle where Shining Armor waited for them with a raised eyebrow, crossed arms and a smile.

They both chuckled nervously before looking down at him for a moment, waving lightly. "Gohan, it's almost time to go!" He shouted up at them. The Saiyan looked at the now rather depressed alicorn-blood girl before taking her hand and floating down with her. She smiled softly and wrapped her soft hand around his more calloused one.

They touched down beside Shining Armor, Flurry jumping onto Gohan's back. The older male quirked his brow in confusion. "I lost a bet," Gohan said, a light blush on his cheeks as he started walking into the castle, Flurry giggling as he walked.

Shining Armor chuckled as he walked over to them, lifting his daughter off the Saiyan's back. "Sorry, sweetheart, but I'd like to talk to Gohan alone for a bit."

Flurry pouted a bit before the two began walking down the hall together, Gohan tousling the younger girls' hair a bit. She giggled at this before frowning a bit as the fighter walked away with her father. She felt her mother's arms wrap around her from behind, the older woman lifting her with her magic and putting her on her back between her wings.

"Now, I know I'm not Gohan, but he did lose that bet and since he can't ante up..." Cadence said before running down the hall, Flurry squealing happily as they ran.

Gohan looked around the halls of the Crystal Palace, still shocked that such a beautiful place existed. "With how powerful the people of your world are, Shining Armor, I'm kind of surprised my dad never sensed you guys. This place is pretty amazing."

The prince looked around the hall they walked and chuckled. "Yeah, this place is pretty incredible. Every time I walk this hall, I remember how I almost lost everything when we came here. The Crystal Empire was under King Sombra's curse back then. Sombra was once a unicorn-blood of immense knowledge and power, one of Equestria's finest scholars. The man was a genius."

Armor stopped in front of a decorative windowpane that shown with a melody of darker colors and hues. Gohan turned and looked at it. It depicted a story of some kind, though the usually intuitive Saiyan warrior hadn't figured it out yet.

It was two-sided window, the artwork similar to a Yin-Yang depiction. It showed a man with dark skin and a black horn on one side, the only bright object in the darkness, and on the other, it showed the same man, a savage grin on his face as it seemed the shadows swirled about him. The side with the darker form was brighter and showed a snowy waste with what seemed like bodies littered over it.

"Sombra was a powerful and talented magic user, not unlike me or Twilight, but he was also very curious. Being the only son of Star Swirl the Bearded, our history's most famous and powerful unicorn-blood, up until Twily was born, made Sombra naturally want to learn as much about magic as he could. He dabbled with Dark Magicks to see what they could do." Shining Armor looked down at Gohan from the corner of his eye. "Now, don't misunderstand, Dark Magic isn't inherently evil, though it is dangerously unstable and naturally destructive."

"Sounds like most of my race," Gohan said almost bitterly, the manic and sadistic grin of the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly as he brutalized his father on the New Planet Vegeta showing up in his mind.

The unicorn-blood smiled a bit at this. "From how you described them, you wouldn't be far off, but Sombra was also very intelligent. Dark Magic is as powerful and addicting as it is unstable, moving you to the darker side of your mind. It has the power to stop an army dead or destroy a country, and that's in the hands of a being with little knowledge of its grasp on you.

Sombra gave himself over to the power and was changed forever. He gained a level of power and mental clarity that few could understand, but he used it for all the wrong reasons." Shining Armor placed a hand on the glass pane. "I made a promise to Flurry when she was born that people like that would never harm her. And I failed."

Gohan was confused for a moment before he realized what Armor was talking about. "Shining Armor, sir, what happened with the changelings wasn't your fault."

"No, but them getting close enough to pull it off was. If I had been a bit more vigilant and careful-"

"Sir, if I may?" Gohan said, cutting the prince off. It didn't surprise Armor that he started with that. Gohan didn't see any of the royals as being above r below him, but he showed them due respect as royalty and nobility (for the most part) was earned through hard work and that was worthy of Gohan's respect. It just made it a bit odd considering the boy talking to him was a prince himself.

"The changelings coordinated their plan just so you wouldn't be expecting the attack. Even if you had doubled the guard, who's to say they wouldn't have slipped some of their own into your ranks?" Gohan looked at the windowpane, understanding why the man had told him Sombra's tale. "Diserex wasn't just strong, the man is a genius in and out of combat. He could have replaced your entire guard and I doubt you would have noticed unless you knew the guards rather intimately."

Shining Armor looked at the boy inquisitively. "And what makes you say that?"

Gohan crossed his arms as he began thinking. "My father always told me the best way to learn about another was to face them in combat. An exchange of fists can teach you more about a person than an exchange of words ever could."

The Captain of Celestia's Royal Guard hummed lightly in thought on that one. "I kind of understand what he means, though I find I bit hard to believe. I'm sure you noticed that I, unfortunately, lack serious combat experience. I'm an experienced fighter and I'm rather well trained, but nothing I learned could have prepared me for the fight we had during the party."

"I speak from experience when I tell you that what you learn very rarely ever prepares you for something like that. I hadn't fought so many enemies in a single sitting as I had before, but I have trained very hard for that instance. My training wasn't anything like that. Nothing my dad or Piccolo could have prepared me for that."

"Piccolo? Isn't he the being that tried to kill your father and his friends?"

"For the most part, that was Daimao Piccolo, but essentially yeah. When he killed my dad and Raditz, he kidnapped and trained me for the next year in preparation for the two Saiyans that fought with Raditz. We got crushed in just about every sense of the word until my dad showed up."

Armor's eyes were wide in shock as he stared at Gohan. "He kidnapped you?" The boy chuckled and nodded. "Then he trained you?"

"It's odd, I know, my father's greatest enemy training me, but it's what happened. Piccolo changed for the better when he trained me. I think it was because he had a real friend for the first time in his life. He told me when he threw himself in front of Nappa's attack for me that I was like the son he never had."

"You have a lot of respect and love for him, don't you?"

"He's my best friend," Gohan said with a smile. "I see him as another sort of father. Kind of odd considering both my father figures are battle obsessed lunatics half the time." He added with a light-hearted laugh, the elder prince joining him. "So, besides to let me know you blame yourself over something out of your control, what did you wanna talk about?"

Armor's eyes widened at that. "Damn, Flurry was not wrong. You are blunt as a club." Gohan chuckled at this, his cheeks heating up a bit. "Well, the reason for the story and for my wanting to talk to you is because I realized something. You saved not just Flurry, but potentially all of Equestria that night. You're stronger than any being in this palace, the princesses included.

I know you were holding back when you fought Diserex, whether for your reasons or because you were wounded, I don't know and I don't care. You're strong. That's why I want you to take Flurry Heart with you to Ponyville. Help her grow, protect her." Armor looked down at the shocked boy, smiling. "Be her friend."

Gohan continued to stare at the man before smiling softly. "That's a lot to ask of a boy you've only known for five days." The Saiyan chuckled lightly and turned to face Shining Armor, his smile even wider than before. "It's a lot more to accept, stupid even. But, honestly, I'm tired of making the smart choices for a bit. And I've never really had a friend my age."

"So you'll do it?"

The boy nodded. "Do I get a new uniform?" he said jokingly.

Shining Armor smiled, knowing it was a joke that was about to get a lot funnier. At least for him.

"Rarity just finished it. It's in your room."

* * *

Flurry sighed a bit as she walked beside her aunt, the elder alicorn-blood looking over at her depressed niece. "What's wrong, Flurry?"

The girl hummed lightly, looking up at Twilight. "Oh, i-it's nothing, Aunt Twilight. I'm just gonna miss you all is all."

"And Gohan! Can't forget your crush, now!" Flurry's face turned bright red at Rainbows' comment as she flew by.

"Rainbow Dash!" The elder princess shouted as he rainbow-haired friend flew by, looking back at her niece who was currently hiding in her wings… behind a stall. Twilight sighed lightly, walking over to the girl. "Come on, Flurry. You wanna see us off, right?" she said, holding out her hand.

Flurry took it and stood up with her aunt. "I'll make sure Gohan sends a letter every day if you'd like." The girl simply nodded as she walked.

The two princesses jumped and squeaked as a familiar voice shouted above them. "That won't be necessary!" They both stopped and quirked their brows as they saw a growing shadow on the ground, screaming as a body slammed into the dirt in front of them. The dust cloud settled and the rest of the girls (and Spike) crowded around the dust cloud, the dragon using his wings to cover Rarity as a blast of air threw the dust away, revealing the Saiyan their subject was on.

He rubbed the back of his head gently, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. Most of the girls glared daggers at him while Spike just chuckled, Rainbow Dash stepping forward and offering a fist bump, one Gohan accepted. Rarity stopped glaring long enough to realize something. The purple-haired unicorn-blood squealed in delight. "Gohan, darling, that gi looks divine on you! I knew those colors would look good on you. They complement those deep, dark eyes of yours."

The young Saiyan stood before them in the new gi Rarity had so painstakingly worked on for him. The top of the martial artist outfit was pitch black with the Son family kanji over the heart with the undershirt being a deep red color. On the back of the top was the kanji for 'Ma' or Demon. It showed the world who Gohan's first teacher was.

It was finished off with a belt the same color as his undershirt, a pair of black trousers, and a pair of black boots with gray stripes that ran up the front with a set of gray laces holding them together. On the shoulders of the red undershirt sat the crest for the Crystal Empire, a purple shield with a blue, crystal heart at the center, all surrounded by the gems that once represented the Elements of Harmony.

The boy did a quick once over of himself. "You think so, Miss Rarity? I mean, yeah, it looks cool and the fit is perfect, but I didn't know if I'd look good in it."

"I think you look really good, Gohan." Flurry said, smiling at the boy kindly. Gohan chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. After that, the princess noticed that her friend had been carrying several rather large bags. "Hey, those look like my bags."

Gohan donned a bright smile. "That's because they are your bags. I would have gotten them here sooner, but your mom packed them pretty full."

"What do you mean?"

Gohan only smiled brighter, hefting the bags with ease. "Come on. We're gonna miss the train."

* * *

Well, Mama and Papa may not be letting me go alone, but at least Gohan is someone I can deal with. Thought the young princess as she looked out the window. "Wow! The plains are so big! It's like a sea of soft, green, grass!" Flurry said in wonder as the train chugged along the tracks, Gohan sitting beside her in a state of meditation, only opening an eye to asking a question.

"Flurry, is this the first time you've left the Crystal Empire?"

The princess didn't look away from the window as she answered. "This is the first time I've been this far away from the palace! I've always wanted to see the world, but Mama and Papa were always too scared to let me go unless I agreed to have an entourage of guards with me. You can't enjoy the world if all you see is the back of your bodyguards."

The boy chuckled before returning his meditation. "Well, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Something in his mind clicked after a few moments before he turned to the knitting Rarity, smiling as he watched her knit the afghan she was making for her baby with cautious, but experienced strokes. "Excuse me, Miss Rarity." The white horned mother hummed lightly in response. "Mind telling me how you got the fabric you used for my new gi? It feels like the same fabric my Saiyan training armor is made from."

"Well, darling, that's because it is, though I didn't know that odd outfit of yours was armor." Rarity answered with.

As the boy was about to ask how they had his armor, Spike spoke up. "When I found you, these odd capsule things were laying around you and I opened one on accident. Your armor fell out and I gave it to Rarity to see if she could figure out where it came from."

"To be honest, I've never seen fabric like that. It's a high tension polymer with the flexibility of Neighgyptian cotton while also weighing near to nothing at all. That gi could take a full power magic blast from me and Twilight and I doubt it'd even have a scratch on it." Rarity said, setting the afghan aside. "Replicating it was quite the chore, but I'm very proud of the finished product. I also put the two symbols I saw on your other outfit on it for you. But I would like to know, how in the world did you get a hold of such a thing, Gohan?"

The boy chuckled as Flurry sat beside him again, leaning her head against his shoulder, bringing a bright blush to his face. "W-well, the suit you found was the same suit I wore when I trained with my dad in the Room of Spirit and Time. An old family friend of ours, Bulma, the woman Dad traveled with all those years ago, made the polymer that made the battle suit from the remnants of the old armor of Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz's armor. It's tougher than the original and can stretch just as much. I think she named it 'Ultra-Mesh'."

Twilight poked her head over the back of Gohan and Flurry's seat, having been listening rather intently. "Hey, Gohan," she said sweetly, causing the boy to look up at her. "I'd love to study that armor of yours a bit. Do you think you'd be willing to lend it to me?" She laid the sweetness on thick, making the other occupants of the car chuckle or sigh. Except for Flurry, who just glared at her aunt.

Gohan chuckled a bit. "You don't need to be so sweet to try and get stuff from me, Miss Twilight. You're a good person, so all you have to do is ask." The boy turned to Spike as the dragon-blood tossed the capsule to him. He pressed the top on it and it exploded, causing most of the people in the car with them to start coughing. He presented the armor to a still slightly shocked Twilight, who blushed a bit as he smiled at her. If only he was a few years older. She thought.

The alicorn-blood took it with a small thank you before a pink blur appeared out of nowhere, slamming Gohan's and Flurry's heads between her bountiful mounds in a tight hug. "Oh, you're gonna love Ponyville! I can show you everything and you can meet everyone and we can throw you guys a big 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!" The pinkette gasped loudly, letting the children go. Good thing too cause they were beginning to turn blue. "Oh my gosh! I gotta go ahead and start setting up!" And like that, the physics breaking Equestrian was gone.

Gohan was left with his eye twitching and his jaw hanging. "How?!"

Twilight looked up from the armor for a moment. "Don't ask. I've been trying to figure her out for years. It's an exercise in futility."

"Just like trying to teach Dad." The boy said under his breath.

"Hm?" Flurry responded with, cocking her head to the side.

"Don't ask. It's about as mind-numbing as trying to figure out Miss Pinkie." The occupants of the car had a good laugh at this before they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Hey, Gohan." Flurry said, breaking the silence. The Saiyan hummed in response, having returned to his meditation. "Since this is gonna be such a long train ride, maybe you could tell us a bit more of your story."

"****YEAH!" ****came the very loud response of the other women and dragon-blood, Pinkie somehow included.

(****Gohan: Seriously, does she know Instant Transmission too?!****

** **Ben: Don't bother trying to figure it out, Gohan. It's like Twilight said.** **

** **Gohan: Beating my head against a brick wall, got it.)** **

Gohan chuckled lightly before leaning back a bit. "Where was I?"

"Piccolo just killed your dad and your uncle," Rainbow said, yelping as her head was smacked for her lack of tact.

The boy laughed lightly at this. "That's right. Well, after that, Piccolo was informed that Raditz wasn't alone and that two Saiyans of even greater power were going to be landing on Earth in a year. So, to help combat this threat, Piccolo kidnapped me, tossed me into the wilderness for six months with nothing but a new gi and a sword, then came back after that for another six months of hard training."

He looked around after this to see a cabin full of horrified and enraged expressions, especially from Twilight and Flurry. He laughed again at this. "Don't worry, Piccolo was hard on me, but he wasn't cruel." He sat back again after this, closing his eyes. "Anyways, a year passed and I was scared out of my mind. I mean, what five-year-old wouldn't have been? The fight started with the Saiyans growing these things called Saibamen. Horrible little green creatures that only exist to fight. Tien Shinhan was first up. He beat the Saibaman that he'd been pit against and one of the Saiyans, Vegeta, killed it as a warning to the rest of them.

After that, Yamcha stepped up next. I had trouble keeping up with the fight because I was relying too heavily on my eyes. Piccolo told me I had to-"

"Focus on your other senses and your eyes will follow?" Rainbow interrupted.

Gohan looked at her, a bit shocked. "Y-yeah, how did you-?"

"Mine and Pinkie's martial arts teacher used to tell us the same thing."

"Sounds like a good teacher."

"****He was an asshole." ****they both said in a deadpan, shocking the rest of the cabin.

"And that sounds like Piccolo."

The rainbow-haired woman went silent for a moment. "Fair enough. Continue."

The half-Saiyan chuckled a bit before continuing with his story, his smile disappearing for a hard frown. "Well, Yamcha did great. He had the Saibaman all but beat, but he let his guard down. We all did. We had no idea what would happen when the Saibaman was pushed into a corner. It jumped up and latched itself to Yamcha and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't shake it off. It self-destructed… and took Yamcha with it. We had barely started the fight and we already had our first casualty.

After that Krillin used his Scatter Kamehameha to kill what was left of the Saibaman, minus one that had hidden away that Piccolo killed. That was when the real fight started. Nappa, the other Saiyan, stepped forward and told us all to come at him at once so he could get warmed up. Tien said that he could handle him, but he was very, very wrong. Nappa took off one of his arms as if it was the easiest thing in the world and then started brutalizing him. Chaotzu, Tien's friend and fellow Crane Style student, attached himself to Nappa's back and self-destructed, but it didn't even faze the Saiyan.

With Chaotzu dead, Tien tried fighting him again but was even less successful this time. Piccolo and Krillin attacked him to try and give the Tien a moment to get away, but they were beaten back. They gave me a chance to attack Nappa while he was too occupied to notice, but I was too scared. I ran and hid behind a rock instead." He said, the level of self-loathing in his voice shocking and somewhat scaring those listening to him.

"In a last-ditch effort, Tien poured all the energy he had left into one final attack, his signature Ki Ko Ho, but still Nappa shrugged it off. Tien fell, having given his all to try and avenge his friend."

Gohan's eyes were closed, so he couldn't see the sobering sight of most of the females in the car crying, Pinkie Pie's having somehow 'deflated', and leaving Spike too horrified for words. How could a five-year-old endure seeing so much pain and death? Fluttershy held tight to Rainbows shirt, having trouble even imagining what any of them went through, watching their friends die one by one at the hands of a monster.

Flurry took Gohan's hand in hers, gripping it as she felt his fingers wrap gently around her small hand, Twilight hugging the Saiyan armor he'd given her to her chest. He was honestly happy for the support. Warrior or not, he was still just an eleven-year-old boy.

"After that, Vegeta found out that we'd used the Dragon Balls to revive my father, so he gave us three hours and sent Nappa off to have fun elsewhere. Probably went out to kill off the rest of the military, I don't know."

"And your dad showed up and beat them both?" Flurry said hopefully, she smiled fading as Gohan shook his head.

"Three hours passed and Nappa was back on the warpath. Krillin and Piccolo fought him as best they could and I did what I could, but it wasn't enough. We only managed to make him angrier. And unfortunately, it was me he wanted dead. He threw his attack and I was too scared to get out of the way, again, so, at the last second, Piccolo threw himself in front of me and took the full brunt of the blast. When I saw him die, something in me snapped, just like it did with Raditz. I hit Nappa with all I had, but it still wasn't enough. The man was a monster.

Nappa was ready to crush me under his boot when I was swept from underneath him. I was on my father's Nimbus Cloud and in front of me was the man we'd been waiting for for so long. And to say he was nettled would have been an understatement. I'd never seen him so angry before. He took Nappa apart with no problem, leaving the Saiyan elite paralyzed. Vegeta decided that a paralyzed Saiyan was useless to him and killed him himself."

"You have dealt with a lot of death in your life, huh?" Rainbow asked, the boy simply nodding his head.

"More than most kids my age. More than most people in general." He said, the princess by his side moving a bit closer to offer some comfort to the boy.

"How could anyone be so cruel as to kill their friend when they needed them most?" Fluttershy said, mulling over what Vegeta did.

"Don't waste your tears on the foolish, Miss Fluttershy, you'll be crying all day," Gohan replied. They were all shocked to hear such a cold reply from him, his expressionless face catching them further off guard. It seemed that recounting the past was starting to get to him.

Gohan smiled at his friend, receiving a smile in return, before pulling his hand free and wrapping his arm gently around her shoulders. She blushed lightly and settled against him, happy for the unusual amount of warmth he exuded.

"If it's all the same to you guys, I'm kinda spent on the storytelling for today. I'm sure whatever party Pinky has planned for me in Ponyville will drag more out of me there." He said apologetically.

He looked up to see Applejack giving him a soft, kind smile. "It's fine, sugarcube. After all that, I'm surprised you didn't stop earlier."

"You've led a very tough life, Gohan. You don't need to drudge bad memories just to satisfy our curiosity." Came Twilight's response, the boy only receiving a quick hug from Fluttershy (which he was sure Master Roshi would hove loved since his head all but vanished into the woman's cleavage with Flurry wondering if she could do that one day).

Once the pegasus-blood woman released the boy, he smiled at them all. "You know, I've only known you guys for a few days, but I can say that you guys are some of the best friends I've ever had."

"Well, considering your other friends are, as you said the other day, an Asian midget and a giant green alien that constantly hits you, I'd hope so," Spike said, laughing as his beloved smacked his arm.

Gohan laughed at this, the girls joining him. They shared a good laugh for a few seconds before the Saiyan felt something pushed into his hand. He looked down to see a pastry in his hands, looking up into Pinkie's blue eyes. She simply smiled that sweet, happy smile of hers. "I thought it might cheer you up."

The Saiyan smiled broadly at the party girl, before noticing that Flurry was trying to (poorly) hide the fact that she was staring at the sweet. The boy simply chuckled, pulled the wrapper off and extended a little ki blade from his finger, before tossing the cupcake into the air. In a flash, he sliced it in half, catching both halves in the palms of his hands before offering one half to the alicorn-blood girl.

She smiled almost as much as he had before taking it, thanking Gohan before going onto explain how Pinkie's pastries were the best.

Rarity smiled at the generous display of the young gentleman, suddenly getting a craving for sweets. As she was about to ask her friend if she had another to spare, Gohan's half floated in front of her. She stared at it incredulously for a moment before looking and seeing the boy sitting in what seemed to be deep meditation, though the kind smile on his told her that he knew she was looking. "You seemed like you could have used it more than me, Miss Rarity."

Damn hormones. Rarity thought as she sniffled a bit, Spike wrapping his arm around her. "Thank you, Gohan," she said gratefully before taking a bite of the cupcake.

Gohan has eaten Pinkie's cooking before, so he knew how good it is. And he still gave his gift to others all because they wanted some, even considering his immense appetite. He'd of made an excellent Element of Generosity. Twilight thought to herself as she watched the warrior fall deeper into his meditation. The Princess of Friendship looked out the window, smiling as she saw the Rainbow Castle coming into view. She gently shook Gohan's shoulder, getting the boys' attention. The alicorn-blood pointed out the window, the Saiyan gaping at the castle.

"Whoa! That castle is huge! It's bigger than the town!"

Spike chuckled. "Yeah, well, a good bit of it is the library, which is a nightmare to organize."

Gohan turned to him. "Wait, YOU GUYS HAVE YOUR OWN LIBRARY!?" He shouted happily, his dark eyes twinkling like stars as Twilight and Spike laughed.

Rainbow smiled but rolled her eyes. "Oh great, another bookworm. And here I thought there was hope for you, Gohan."

"Hey Rainbow, guess what?"

"What?"

"Shut up. LIBRARY!" Gohan shouted again, causing everyone in the cabin to laugh. The Saiyan child was too excited to be embarrassed.

He'd of made a fine Element of Laughter too. Twilight looked over her seat at her niece and her niece's bodyguard. "Gohan, Flurry, welcome to Ponyville."

They both shook in anticipation. This was an adventure for both of them and they were going to get the most out of it they could.

** **The two children, one a warrior who never had the chance to act his age, and the other a sheltered princess, finally have the chance to live as two children for a bit. But, evil forces move beneath the shroud of peace that covers this world. Will they're happiness be cut short, will Gohan have to fight once more to protect his new friends? Find out next time on Crystal Vanguard!** **

* * *

** **The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boy's neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.** **

****Gohan: ****Hey guys! It's me, Gohan!

****Flurry Heart: ****And Flurry!

****Gohan: ****Holy shit, this place is massive! And this is my room?!

****Twilight: ****Happy to hear you like your accommodations Gohan… Gohan? Where'd you Go han?

****Spike: ****I think he went to the library… What was that?

****Rainbow Dash: ****There's a manticore attacking the town and it's cornered Rarity!

****Flurry Heart: ****Next time on Crystal Vanguard!: Spikes Defiant Roar! This is Super Saiyan Gohan!

****Spike: ****You took Big Mac away from us, I won't let you hurt Rarity!


	4. Spikes Defiant Roar! This is Super Saiyan Gohan!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire above him, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguard logo appears.
> 
> Last time on Crystal Vanguard, having recovered from both his crash and his battle with the Changeling General Diserex, Gohan was enjoying his time with the Crystal Royalty's daughter, Flurry Heart.
> 
> Despite the fun they were having, a depressing thought hung over them both. Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony were going to be leaving and Gohan was going with them to find a way home.  
But, Shining Armor had an idea to fix that for both his daughter and the savior of his kingdom.
> 
> Gohan was shocked, yes, but he was happy to have a chance to keep his friend. So, after donning his new gi and catching up with the exiting party, he and Flurry caught the train, chugging along to their new home. What awaits them in the small town? Find out now!

Gohan looked around the little town, a broad grin on his face. Sure, it was small, but this was so much different than anything he'd ever known at home. It was rare that his family left Mount Paoz for anything other than to fight their next battle or to train, so seeing the little town so alive was a welcome change.

Flurry felt much the same, having never come to Ponyville despite her aunts' repeated attempts to bring her. She ran to a flower stand, sniffing at a bouquet of orchids, her favorite. Her bodyguard noticed this and smiled softly, whispering to Twilight, who gave a small giggle in response.

Flurry had moved from the flower stand to a small trinket stall, looking over the inventory they had. She was rather engrossed in it, Rainbow standing beside her to make sure she didn't get ripped off. The young princess turned as she felt someone tap her shoulder, looking straight into the bouquet of orchids, Gohan's hair peeking over it.

The princess blushed brightly, but took the flowers, kissing her guardian's cheek. The Saiyan chuckled nervously as his cheeks burned bright red. The women in the group all laughed at the adorable display between the two before Spike whistled. "Come on, love birds! Castles over here!"

The looks on the kids' faces had the rest of the party laughing loudly, sans Rarity, who simply elbowed her husband in the ribs. "Darling, don't be mean." The pregnant woman walked over to Gohan and Flurry. "I'm sure you two want to get settled at the castle, so I won't hold you up, but I'd love it if you two could join Spike and me for dinner tonight."

Gohan's growling stomach made them laugh again before he answered. "Well, I'm up for it, but my schedule is kind of tied to Flurry's now." He turned to the princess in question. "How about it, Flurry?"

She sniffed at her orchids again before looking up at the boy. "Huh? O-oh, sorry." She looked up to Twilight. "Is that okay, Aunt Twily?"

The elder princess smiled lightly, patting her nieces head before looking up at her friend. "I'll have her by in that new dress you made for her at seven. Is it okay if they stay the night with you? I have some things I'd like to get done tonight."

Flurry gasped a bit at this, then looked up at the pregnant fashionista, her friend standing behind her with a big grin and his arms behind his head. Rarity giggled lightly as Spike put his arm around her shoulders. "I'll make up the guest room after we get them set up at the castle. I'm sure Gohan wants to take a look at the library." The big hopeful eyes of the Saiyan were all they needed to confirm this.

Flurry hopped onto Gohan's back, the male laughing as he took off towards the castle faster than even Rainbow thought he could, pulling the cart holding the princess's bags behind him with his tail. "Damn. He is hauling."

The rainbow-haired woman and her blonde friend smiled. "Race?" AJ asked, getting into a runner's position.

"Thought you'd never ask," Dash responded with, taking her position.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but charged a magic bolt in her horn, aiming up. "On your marks, get set..." She fired the bolt.

** **Boom!** **

Both women launched off the ground, tearing up a chunk of dirt behind them as they ran after Gohan, catching up rather quickly. The Saiyan and princess noticed this and Flurry smirked at her bodyguard, the boy smiling back. The princess gave a surprised yelp as she felt Gohan lurch forward, hearing the stone under his feet crack a bit as he started pulling ahead again.

AJ and Dash growled as they opened the throttle to full, keeping up for a moment before the boy simply vanished, leaving nothing but a trail of high-speed footprints. The girls looked ahead of them as they ran, seeing a smiling Gohan and a somewhat frazzled looking Flurry Heart waiting for them at the entrance. They got to the gate, panting a bit.

"Well, Ah'll be. Dash wasn't kiddin' when she said ya'll were fast, Gohan, but I didn't think you'd be that fast." said the farm girl, fanning herself with her hat until a piece of cloth was presented to her.

"Here, it might help with the sweat," Gohan said, smiling kindly as AJ took the handkerchief. She smiled back and pat herself a bit, offering it Rainbow Dash who copied her friend. The martial artist turned to his charge, sweat-dropping a bit as he saw her bent over in the bushes. "Well, you wanted to go faster." She turned and glared at him for a moment, making the fighter duck and cover before she went back to her puking.

A flash of light caught their attention, Spike and Twilight appearing from it. The alicorn-blood chuckled a bit as her niece finally stopped, wiping her mouth with her cloth. "Well, since that's done, let's get you two inside so we can get you set up." She said, pushing the door open.

Gohan and Flurry were awed by the Rainbow Castle's interior. While not as jaw-dropping as a palace made of crystal, it was still incredible to see. Gohan's visual tour ended abruptly as he sensed odd energy… Behind me!

He lashed out with a quick kick, aiming for what he believed to be the gut of the entity, finishing with a back fist. The entity, a male, cried out as he was kicked and again as his nose was struck. He rolled on the floor, holding his face, as his attacker turned and took a stance, waiting for a counter.

"Wait, hold on!" said another voice, the Saiyan turning to see Fluttershy running up to them and to the man he'd just floored. The man seemed to be middle-aged with silvery hair on top with darker brown hair on the sides and back of his head. He was rather tall with an odd pair of horns on his head. One was an ivory deer horn and the other was a turquoise goat horn. "Discord, are you okay?" The pegasus-blood woman asked the man, now identified as Discord, as the others crowded around him.

"Uh…?" Gohan had no idea what was happening as Fluttershy helped Discord to his feet.

"I'm fine, my love, just caught off guard. I've never had someone sense me as I was jumping." He said, his voice a bit nasally as he looked at the still tense boy. That boy hit me harder than Tia and Lulu ever did. That's some power he's throwing around. "I take it he's the boy you told me about, Goban?"

"****Gohan." ****the boy and princess said.

"Gohan, yes, I remember now." He cried out as he cracked his nose back into place, Fluttershy trying to dab at the blood that dripped out and him bending down so she could. "A pleasure, my young warrior. I am Discord, Fluttershy's hubby."

Gohan paled quickly at this, grabbing the sides of his head. "You're Fluttershy's husband?! Oh, crap, I am so sorry! Your energy was weird and it put me on guard, so when I felt it behind me, I just reacted!"

Fluttershy and the rest of the girls giggled. "It's okay, Gohan. Discord's pretty tough." She gave her husband the handkerchief and stepped to the side a bit. "Gohan, Flurry, I'd like to introduce my husband, Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony."

The Saiyan lifted his brow in confusion. "Chaos and Disharmony? Wouldn't that make you evil by design?"

"I'm not evil, my boy, just chaotic. I oppose order, not good." Discord responded with. "And don't worry about the nose, kiddo, nothing a quick nose job can't fix." He snapped his fingers and his nose turned to a red clown nose, giving it a honk and earning some laughter from those in attendance. "Hmmm, funny, but not what I'm looking for."

He snapped again, his nose turning to a shark, which turned on him. He screamed and snapped again, Gohan and Flurry losing it as they started laughing louder. Discord smirked as he replaced the shark with a Pinocchio nose. "Ah, much better." The nose grew and he slumped a bit, snapping again and replacing it with a normal nose.

Fluttershy giggled and kissed her husband's cheek. "You're almost as good at making kids laugh as Pinkie."

"I aim to please." He extended his hand to the young man, who's laughs were trickling into light chuckles. Gohan took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Gohan."

"A pleasure, sir," he said.

Flurry stepped up after she stopped laughing, looking up at Discord with awe-filled eyes. "So, you're Discord? My mom and dad told me about you."

The chaos spirit knelt, putting a hand on her head. "And you must be Flurry Heart. Look at you. The last time I saw you, you were barely knee-high to an ant. And I should know." He snapped his fingers and shrank. "Cause that's how big I am!"

Gohan and Flurry laughed again as Discord un-shrunk himself, Twilight stepping between them. "Alright, let's get the kids to their rooms so they can get..." She looked around to see Gohan wasn't standing there anymore. "Gohan? Where'd you Go han?"

Spike snapped and pointed to the doors of the library. They opened them a bit and saw Gohan already nose deep in a book, Percival: A Living Legend by Princess Celestia. Spike smiled, happy to see that their guest seemed to gravitate to his favorite non-comic book.

Twilight giggled a bit as well, looking to her niece next. "Hey, listen, you can go into town for a bit if you'd like." Her face lit up and she nodded excitedly. "But you stay with Spike and Rarity, understood?" the elder alicorn-blood said sternly.

Flurry pout a bit but didn't argue. She knew better than that as it just wouldn't get her anywhere. She nodded and hugged her aunt before running after Spike, said dragon-blood putting the young princess on his shoulders.

Twilight smiled again before looking at Discord. "Would you mind?" She gestured to the bags at their feet. The man simply smiled and snapped his fingers, the bags vanishing. "Thanks, Discord."

"Anytime, Twily." The alicorn-blood gave her friend a deadpanned look as Fluttershy giggled, before yelping as Discord pulled her close. "As for you and I, my dear, I do believe we have a trip to Cloudsdale to take."

The pegasus-blood woman gasped. "Today's my mother's birthday and I forgot!"

"That's why I remembered for you. The kids are dressed and ready and your present is it at the house. All we have to do is pop over there and then pop up to Primrose's."

The young woman sighed before pulling Discord down a bit, mashing her lips into his in a short, passionate kiss that had Twilight blushing to see. "You're amazing, you know that?"

Her husband smiled and gave her a quick kiss in return. "I have my moments. Now, let's go." He looked up and gave the princess a two-finger salute. "Until we meet again." He snapped and he and his bride disappeared in a flash of light.

Twilight chuckled and turned from the doorway to the library, walking over to the doors before walking in. She smiled softly as she saw how engrossed he was in the book, leaning over him a bit. "You know, that's Spike's favorite book you're reading."

He looked up, blushing a bit and looking away as he got an eye full of cleavage. "W-well, he has good taste. It's a great book so far."

The princess lifted a brow in confusion at his change in attitude, looking down and realizing how much of 'her' was on display, her face turning beat red as she stood up straight. "S-sorry."

"It's alright. Accidents happen." Gohan said, returning to his book.

Twilight sat beside him, her wings shifting a bit behind her. "Hey, Gohan?" He hummed in response, turning the page he'd been on. She noticed that in the short time he'd been reading, he'd made a noticeable dent in the thousand-plus page book. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few things about the Saiyans. What your diets consist of normally, what the average life-span is, things like that. Would you be okay with that?"

He looked up again and smiled, closing the book. "Sure, Twilight, I don't mind at all, but I'm pretty sure you can guess what our diets consist of. Just about anything we can fit in our stomachs."

They both shared a laugh at that. "Well, one question I have is if Saiyans can change form. Flurry told me when you saved her that your eyes had changed color, and the princesses were talking about you holding something back."

The fighter stiffened a bit at this before giving a nervous chuckle. "You're pretty observant, Twilight. Yeah, we Saiyans can transform, though as far as we know, we only have two forms. Our Oozaru forms and Super Saiyan."

Twilight tilted her head a bit. "Oozaru? Isn't that the monster that killed your Grandpa Gohan?"

Gohan's face fell a bit. "Yeah. It's a powerful form we Saiyans take during the full moon if we have our tails."

"Wait, then that means..." Twilight cupped her hands over her mouth.

"It means my father was the monster that killed his grandfather. And I'm not so different. In our Oozaru state, we're ten times more powerful, but because I and my father descend from the lower class of Saiyans, we can't control ourselves when we're like that. We just start destroying everything around us.

"But, one silver lining is that our Super Saiyan forms are much stronger," Gohan said hopefully.

"Oh? Super Saiyan, huh? Do you need a full moon for that too or is it something else?"

He opened his mouth to start the explanation but was cut off by a loud, lion-like roar, followed by a deeper, more powerful roar. Both the Saiyan and princess jumped to their feet, Gohan closing his eyes as he began searching for Flurry's energy. "Crap baskets. Where's Flurry?"

"She's with Spike," Twilight said. "You don't think-"

"I don't think, I know. Whatever that was, it's attacking Flurry!"

* * *

Spike smiled as he watched Rarity help Flurry to stir up her milkshake. The fashionista was showing the fledgling princess the best ways to mix her chocolate chips into the new confection in front of her. "Flurry, darling, is this the first time you've ever had a milkshake?"

The crystal princess nodded. "Mama always told me I'd get big and chubby if I ate too many."

"Hey, with how you move, I doubt that's much a problem," Spike said, chowing down on an emerald and root beer float. "The real question is, why didn't Shining slip you one every once in a while? You're eating his favorite right now. Mint chocolate chip."

Flurry's eyes became downcast as she just stared at the dairy product. "Papa's not home very often anymore. Between being a guard and being a ruler, he doesn't have a lot of time to just be a dad. I'm not mad at him for it, I understand, and Mama's the best, it's just that..." She trailed off, sniffling a bit, Rarity pulling her into a gentle hug.

"Shhh, it's okay, darling. Let's eat our milkshakes and don't worry." The soon-to-be mother bent a bit to whisper. "It'll be our secret."

Her and Flurry giggled before diving into their milkshakes, trading a few words after with Spike and Pinkie, who may or may not have been planning a 'Welcome to Ponyville, Flurry and Gohan/Thanks for saving us from the Changelings' party. The dragon-blood smiled as he watched them, wondering if they were in for anything like this in their future. If we are, I'm fine with that.

The little group decided to walk around the newly set-up spring stands, Spike, sitting Flurry on his shoulder so she could get a better look at everything. Many comments were made about how much she looked like she could be Spike and Rarity's daughter, the girls giggling each time.

The dragon-blood turned to see Sweetie Belle running up to them as they were picking out some new fabric for a dress, the man running forward and catching the young unicorn-blood as she fell. A trail of blood followed behind her as well as a line of it running down her right arm.

"Sweetie, what happened?!" Rarity was on her husband's side in an instant, Flurry Heart doing what she could to help by using her magic to try and bind the wound on Sweetie's arm.

"Pandemonium and Entropy. We were watching them and they ran into the Everfree. We told Discord and Fluttershy to go on and that we'd have Twilight send the boys their way once we got them back." She hissed in pain as Rarity finished off the binding. "We chased after them, but they ran into a-" A monstrous roar tore the peaceful town air asunder as the people began running for cover.

A very angry and very, ****very****, large manticore was barreling towards them at full speed, the other two members of the CMC doing everything they could to slow it down, whether through Apple Blooms' impressive strength or Scootaloo's equally impressive aerial acrobatics, but to no avail. Spike froze when he saw the beast. It had only one eye.

That's the manticore that killed Mac. "Flurry." The princess looked at her 'uncle', fear clear on her face. "Did Gohan give you a way to call him if you got separated?" She nodded, then screamed as Rarity and Sweetie yanked her to the side out of the way of the monster, which crashed into Sugarcube Corner, groaning a bit as it was dazed.

Spike shook his head, a small trickle of blood running down the side of his face where he struck the ground rolling. His pupils shrank to thin slits as he saw that the manticore was still targeting Sweetie and that she was being protected. By the princess and his wife.

The beast roared as it tore at the barrier Flurry was conjuring, the young alicorn-blood panting as sweat ran down her face. Holding a barrier spell wasn't overly difficult as long as it wasn't too large and you didn't have to do it for long, but having that barrier constantly attacked, having to focus magic into the spots being attacked, while also trying to keep all the people behind her from panicking, all of it was taking its toll on the girl.

She noticed off to the side that Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash had joined the fray, ushering as many people away from the monster as they could. Dash rushed in like a bolt of lightning, striking the manticore in its side, sending it rolling to the side. It retaliated with a swipe of its tail, hitting home as it connected with the center of her chest, the pegasus-blood woman screaming as she was plowed through the Sugarcube Corners front wall.

An even more deafening roar tore through the air, shaking the window panes that remained. The people and beast froze, looking to see the perpetrator, the young dragon-blood Spike. His wings were extended to their full length, his body tensing and relaxing every few seconds. His hands clenched tight, the claws at the end of each finger biting into the soft skin of his palm, his green eyes burning with the deep fire that raged within all his people.

"Over here, you ugly, over-sized rug! You took Mac away from us, there's no way I'm letting you do that again!" He roared again, causing everyone to cover their ears.

The manticore turned and snarled at the male, earning one in return. Spike was challenging the beast to a match of dominance, one predator to another, and the creature was accepting. With a roar, the two launched themselves at each other, the dragon-blood striking the manticore in its gut as it reared up. They rolled over the ground for a moment, the manticore crying out in pain as Spikes claws and fangs tore into it, the dragon-blood sinking his teeth into the base of his prey's throat.

The scorpion tail of the chimera came around, stabbing at the air as the dragon-blood took to the sky, more than smart enough to know he wouldn't survive a dose of manticore poison. He dove down with a hard flap to push him down faster, driving his heel into the monsters' face. It gave a furious roar as it slammed into the ground.

Everyone watched in stunned silence as two Equestria's most vicious predators tried to kill each other. Most of them had never seen the kind and courteous Spike so ferocious before, so feral and powerful.

Spike gave a feral roar of triumph, the roar being cut short as pain exploded from his gut. He looked down slowly, seeing the tip of the manticore's tail sunk deep into his stomach. He could feel the cold feeling that the monster's venom brought with it begin seeping into him.

Rarity screamed as she watched the monster pull its tail out of her husband's belly, rolling onto its feet before stalking up to the paralyzed drake.

Flurry couldn't watch anymore. She ripped herself out of Rarity and Sweetie Belle's arms, ignoring their screaming for her to come back, stopping in front of the downed drake.

"F-Flurry? What the Tartarus are you doing? Get out of here!" Spike shouted, fighting the poison long enough to sit up a bit to look at the girl.

The princess shut her eyes tight, tears running down her cheeks before she screamed, a small red stick appearing in front of her. "I've always been taken care of, always protected! I had to watch as you were all hurt protecting me from the changelings! I don't want to ever feel that helpless again! Power Pole, Extend!" She cried, the magic staff's end smashing into the chimera's snout. The manticore roared in pain as it reared back. She spun the pole over her head before running headlong at the beast, grasping the shaft of her weapon tight.

She screamed as she slid to the side of the still stunned manticore, rapping it in the head quickly before it turned, slapping her to the side. The alicorn-blood girl rolled into the wall, her left eye-stinging a bit. Flurry lightly touched her head, looking at her hand. Well, I did want to experience new things. I guess bleeding from the head could count.

The princess gasped as a shadow fell over her. She looked up to see the manticore snarling at her as it advanced, drool dripping from its maw. Fear ran through her blood like ice, the girl shivering as her body refused to move. Only one word came to mind as the beast lifted a massive clawed paw to finish her, closing her eyes at the last second.

"****Gohan!****"

The chimera roared in pain as something slammed into its side, sending it flying across the small town's main road. Flurry opened her eyes to see the kanji for 'demon' in front of her. Her eyes focused more and she smiled, seeing her savor. "Gohan." She said before she felt her head get a bit warm she looked up to see her crying aunt running a hand over her wound, the purple aura of her magic encompassing her horn and hand.

"Exciting first day, huh?" she heard her guardian say before he turned back to the manticore, the creature slowly standing, shaking its head lightly. "Twilight." The young woman looked up at the boy. "Get over to Rarity and put the strongest shield you can make up. Things are about to get rocky."

The elder princess nodded before taking her niece's hand, teleporting them over to Rarity and her sister, immediately throwing up a dense magic shield.

The one-eyed monster roared as it turned to Gohan, who only glared back. The ground began to shake and crack under the boys' feet. "You asked me before if it was something different that let us transform into Super Saiyans. It is. A powerful emotion. There are many different ways to achieve the form, but there is one common factor for us all." The beast started tearing down the road at Gohan, the Saiyan standing strong, silent.

As the predator closed in on the Saiyan, he loosed with a wrath filled shout, the resulting blast of air lifting the manticore off the ground. Gohan's eyes shifted to teal, his muscles bulged and his hair changed to sunburst blonde before he gave a louder scream, a massive twister of energy erupting around him, sending the manticore flying back again. The Super Saiyan gave one final cry, the windows of the stores and houses either cracking or shattering as chunks of ground were ripped up and floated around him.

A dense, gold, flame-like aura surged around his body, a large crater under his feet. Flurry was struck silent by this. I-it's like… he's like one of the angels in Auntie Celestia's books.

The Saiyan glowered at the now frightened hunter. He took a step forward and the manticore took a step back. The fighter smirked a bit, then vanished from sight, reappearing under the beast, his fist buried into its gut. He gave a short shout of exertion, launching it upward, chasing after and flying above it, punching downward into its back, turning it into a yellow blur.

It smashed into the ground with a mighty crash, shaking the town. The beast groaned in pain as it slowly stood, a massive wind picking up around the crater. They all looked up to see two orbs of energy forming in Gohan's hands, yellow sparks racing up and down his arms. "Last chance! Turn around and leave, and never return!"

Now, a manticore obviously can't speak, but they are a good bit smarter than most of the beasts that wander the Everfree. This one, in particular, was rather intelligent and it knew when it was beaten. But, it was nothing if not proud. It gave a loud, defiant roar as if challenging the super warrior.

Gohan sighed lightly, before his aura erupted around him again, the orbs of energy growing. "Don't say I didn't give you the chance." He aimed his body downward and dove down at a speed that even Rainbow couldn't see. He gave one final battle cry as he plowed into the manticore, the energy in his hands exploding outward. The people of Ponyville looked away from the light of the blast, only Flurry noticing that Gohan was flipping out of the light dome.

He landed in front of the crater, a dark expression on his face before he exhaled slowly, the light from his energy fading away, showing that nothing but the chimera's tail and the crater remained. He clapped his hands twice before turning to the crater, bowing to it, showing the fallen due respect.

Gohan turned to see Rarity holding a dying Spike in her arms. The Saiyan ran over, pulling out his capsule case. "Please be in here… Yes!" He popped open one of the capsules, a small burlap bag appearing in his hand. He reached into it and pulled out a small bean, placing it at Spike's mouth. He watched as the dragon-blood pulled into his mouth and started chewing. "Miss Rarity, rub his throat so he can swallow."

The unicorn-blood had no idea what he was doing or what that bean was, but after that display of power, she wasn't about to question him. He began gently rubbing her husband's throat, watching as slowly swallowed the remnants of the chewed up bean. Almost immediately, Spike opened his eyes. "H-hey, I don't hurt anymore." He said in surprise, looking down at his gut to see that the wound had healed, leaving no trace of it behind. "But… I don't-"

Gohan smiled and held up the bag. "Senzu beans. They can heal any wound and restore your stamina to full. Though, I didn't know if it'd work on poison. And I don't have very many of these left it seems. Kinda glad you didn't waste one on me."

Spike opened his mouth to question why Gohan put his life on the line for a 'maybe', but he was cut off by the over-zealous hugs of his wife, sister-in-law, and superior/sister. "Uh, guys, it's nice to know you all love me, but I think you're about to finish the job for that manticore." He said in a strained manner, causing the women to back off, minus Rarity, who refused to let go.

"Gohan!" The Saiyan turned to see a starry-eyed Flurry staring at him. "How did you change like that?! It's so amazing! You're way stronger now!"

Before he could answer, the Super Saiyan heard Twilight's voice. "So," He turned to look at the elder princess. "That was a Super Saiyan, huh? I gotta say, that was pretty amazing. If ten times is your Oozaru forms power, I don't think we have much to worry about."

Gohan chuckled nervously as he powered down. "Well, actually, the max output of my Super Saiyan form is fifty times that of my base power. That was only about six percent, three times my base's max."

"****That was six percent?!" ****shouted the present Elements and dragon-blood, Flurry too shocked to say anything.

"Yeah, I know, it was a bit much for that, but I figured you'd like seeing it in action rather than just have me tell you about it."

A-a bit much?! Just how powerful is this kid? Spike found himself wondering, suddenly in awe once more at the boys' strength.

"Hey, Gohan?" He turned to Flurry, smiling at her before flicking her in the forehead. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Why didn't you use your flare spell? You're lucky I heard that things roar, next time you may not get that lucky." He said a frown on his face.

She glared at him, still rubbing her forehead. "Well, sorry, but I was kinda preoccupied with a giant manticore trying to eat me!" She crossed her arms and pouted, opening an eye to see if Gohan felt bad for flicking her, only to see that stern look still on his face. She sighed and then remembered what she originally planned on asking. "You said there was one thing in common for each Super Saiyan. What is it?"

Gohan wasn't surprised by the question, only sighing a bit in response. "Rage. The common factors are rage and pain. My father once described it as being 'pure of heart and awakened by fury'." Flurry was a bit shocked by this, but then she remembered what his eyes looked like when he saved her the first time, so his anger being the trigger made some sense.

"Me and him trained in a special room where time moved differently, one day out here was a year in there, for the solitary purpose of mastering Super Saiyan. Now, I can transform in and out with no effort on my part and can even hold it as if it were my most natural form."

"Then what was all the screaming for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The manticore" the boy answered. "I was hoping by putting on that little show, it'd have just backed off and run back to its home." He looked at the crater again, looking away after a moment. "I didn't want to have to do what I did. Taking life should only be a last resort for beings too foolish or evil to listen to words."

The next thing to happen was Gohan was once again hugged by the busty ball of energy that was Pinkie Pie. "Sweet Celestia, Gohan, that was amazing! You came in and just kicked that manticore like it was nothing! Then you were all like 'RAHHHHH!' and the manticore was all like 'EEK, AAAHHHH!' and then you were like 'BOOOOOOM!'. That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! And I've seen Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom!"

"Sonic Rainwhat?" Gohan asked before turning to the Sugarcube Corner, frowning a bit as he saw a man, woman, and two children around his age trying to piece what they could back together. He walked over, causing the group around to look at him oddly before he started lifting the larger bricks that were still one piece, putting them on the wall in places they'd fit.

The man looked over at the boy. "Thank you, but you've done enough for us all as it is, there's no need-"

"If I'd gotten here before things got out of hand, you wouldn't have to be doing this, to begin with. This is the least I can do." Gohan interrupted with a smile.

The man smiled and started picking up more bricks, the kids running over to the boy, the other boy, Pound Cake, rapid-fire asking him questions about who he was, how he did that 'blonde hair' thing, how he got so strong, and many others. The girl, Pumpkin Cake, on the other hand, simply took his hand, trying to pull him to what remained of the story, offering him handmade cupcakes for saving Ponyville.

Flurry growled a bit as the girl cozied up to her bodyguard. What made it worse was the kind smile he had while they were talking. Gohan excused himself from the girl and her family, the Cakes he'd been told, walking back to his group.

"Miss Rarity, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Rarity blinked a few times in surprise. "Oh, of course, darling, I'm fine. I was scared when Spike got stung. Manticore venom isn't something you just shake off and it isn't a quick killer."

Gohan looked at the near sobbing Applejack. "That manticore. It was the one that killed your brother, wasn't it?" She nodded, hugging Apple Bloom close. Gohan turned and walked back to the crater, grabbing the manticore's tail before presenting it to the cowgirl. "You should have this. I know it's a bit hard, but a trophy of some sort to have may make it a bit easier to deal with."

Applejack sniffled a bit, but took the manticore tail, nodding a bit. Gohan smiled softly, returning the hugs the Apple sisters gave him, though he blushed a bit when Apple Bloom hugged him.

Flurry watched everything happen, her jealousy was forgotten for a moment as she began running the events of earlier through her mind. How easily she could have died, how scared she was. She didn't want to feel helpless anymore, she already made that promise to herself. Now she needed to make it final. "Gohan." She called out firmly.

The martial artist turned to his charge, an eyebrow raised. "I… I felt so helpless when that manticore attacked. I felt the same way when everyone was fighting the changelings for me. I don't want to feel that way again!"

Gohan stared at the alicorn-blood for a moment before it clicked in his head. He smiled a bit. Well, Cadance did ask me to teach Flurry a bit about protecting herself.

The Saiyan looked to the cowgirls by his side. "Miss Applejack, do you by chance have any land you need tilling? The bigger the better."

Applejack looked at him as he'd grown a second head. "Well, yeah, it's almost time to start planting the seeds for next year's crop. Why?"

He turned to Rainbow Dash. "Do you have any remedial tasks you may need help with, something that would give a good workout."

The flier took a thinking stance for a moment. "Well, there is Derpy's old job. She's out on vacation right now. She's Ponyville's mailwoman, and we get a lot of mail, so it's a pretty good workout."

He looked next to Spike and Rarity. "Make tonight's dinner a big one, if you don't mind. Flurry's gonna need the energy."

The princess's eyes widened. "Th-then you'll-"

"I've never trained anyone before, so I'll be using the same methods Piccolo used on me with some of what my dad went through during his training." He turned to Flurry, a serious expression. "This will be the hardest thing you've ever done, so I hope you're ready." He pulled a capsule from his box, handing it Rarity. "This is the outfit I had on the other day when I came here. Think you can make it Flurry's size? I'll help you to add the weights."

The fashionista smiled and nodded. "I'll have it ready by tonight."

"No need to push yourself," Spike said with a smile, putting his arm around her shoulders. "I'll help you with it. Least I can do for him."

Gohan smiled and turned back to Flurry, who was smiling so bright, it was a wonder people weren't going blind. He smiled back and pat her head. "I hope you know what you're getting into." His answer was a tight hug, one he returned.

** **After a fierce life or death battle with a manticore, the very same that killed Applejack's brother, Princess Flurry has had enough of being coddled and cared for. How will Gohan train this young royal and keep her safe at the same time? Find out next time on Crystal Vanguard!** **

* * *

** **The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boy's neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.** **

****Gohan: ****Hey guys! It's me, Gohan!

****Flurry Heart: ****And Flurry!

****Gohan: ****Flurry, it's time to wake up!

** **Flurry Heart: incomprehensible mumbling** **

** **Gohan: grabs her sheets and pulls them out from under her.** **

****Flurry Heart: ****Ahhhh! What, what is it?!

****Gohan: ****Come on, time for training.

****Flurry Heart: ****Next time on Crystal Vanguard! Helping out the Apples! First day of training! Come on, Gohan. Can't we sleep a bit longer?


	5. Helping out the Apples! First day of training!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire above him, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguards logo appears.
> 
> Last time on Crystal Vanguard, Gohan, Flurry, and the Elements (plus Spike) made it to Ponyville, where they immediately met the Spirit of Chaos, Fluttershy's husband, Discord.
> 
> Being Discord, he found a way to defuse the situation by putting smiles on the children's faces.
> 
> Afterwards, Gohan found his way to the library while Flurry went to town with Spike and Rarity. Twilight took her opportunity to ask Gohan some more questions about the saiyans and their powers, only for their conversation to be cut short.
> 
> Meanwhile, while in town, Flurry was having fun with the parents-to-be, with Rarity giving her an impromptu milkshake lesson. They were all having fun, having decided to take their milkshakes on the go. But, the arrival of a wounded Sweetie Belle put an end to their fun, along with the news she carried. A manticore was on it's way to Ponyville, and it was out for blood. In a bid to protect his loved ones, Spike stepped up to face the feral beast.
> 
> A valiant effort, but fruitless as the dragon-blood was stun through the chest by his opponent. It was then Flurry had seen enough. Arming herself with the Power Pole, she rushed in and caught the monsters attention only to become its next target.
> 
> Answering to the call of his charge, the saiyan warrior took the fight into his own hands, immediately dominating the chimera. As a way of trying to both frighten off his opponent and to show Twilight what she had been asking about, Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan.
> 
> After a raw, savage display of power, Gohan first used one of the few senzu beans he had to save the dying Spike, then began helping the Cakes to rebuild their home. After hearing that the manticore he killed was the one that killed Applejacks big brother, he gave her it's tail as a trophy.
> 
> Flurry called out to him, telling him that she couldn't take being protected while her friends were being hurt anymore. So, Gohan came up with an idea to fix her problem.
> 
> And so, the training of Princess Flurry Heart begins today! How will it go and how much will she hate life afterwards? Find out now.

Flurry smiled lightly in her sleep, cuddling her pillow closely. She cooed softly, deep in her dreams. "Gohan..."

The aforementioned saiyan pushed open the door, smiling a bit at the gentle smile his friend wore. He walked in and gently shook her shoulder. "Flurry, it's time to wake up." His answer was a bit of unintelligible mumbling and for his new student to roll over away from him. He sighed a bit before gripping her sheets, yanking them up hard, sending the princess rolling into the floor.

She gave a shriek as she hit the floor, hopping to her feet and summoning the Power Pole to her hands, looking around for her attacker until she noticed Gohan in her room. While she had been sleeping.

…

"It's time for-"

"****GET OUT!"****She screamed, kicking the young man out of the room… literally, into the adjacent wall.

__Well, if nothing else, at least we aren't starting from scratch on her physical prowess.__ He thought to himself as he rubbed his now very sore head. It was about five minutes later that Flurry finally came out of her room in a t-shirt she'd borrowed from Spike and a pair of shorts. Her face was still bright red and she couldn't look Gohan in the eye as she came down the stairs.

Once she got to the kitchen, she yawned loudly, looking out the window for a moment. "Gohan, Aunt Celestia isn't even up yet. Can't we sleep a bit longer?" she whined as her bodyguard set a plate of burnt toast, badly fried eggs, and pungent smelling pancakes in front of her.

"Sorry, I'm not much of a cook, and no, we can't. Miss Do's mail route starts in thirty minutes. That's enough time to wake up, eat, get your morning routine done, and get into your training gear." Gohan said, setting his own food down before sitting, clapping his hands together. "Itadakimasu."

Flurry just stared at the plate, a bit shocked. He went through the trouble of making me breakfast?She smiled and cut off a piece of her pancake, dunking it in the syrup on the side of the plate before popping it into her mouth. And that's as far as it got. Her face turned pale and her body froze. Well, it's the thought that, oh who am I kidding? This is horrid! Papa's a better cook than this, and he gave the entire Crystal Guard food poisoning!

Gohan chuckled nervously as he saw his friends face begin changing colors. "Like I said, I'm not much of a cook."

"No kidding." Spike said as he walked into the kitchen, handing Flurry a napkin as she began scrubbing her tongue. "It smells like a buffalo used the kitchen as it's latrine."

The saiyan gave the two a deadpan look. "I get it, I'm not a good cook. Drop it."

Spike chuckled a bit before taking the plates and depositing their contents into the garbage disposal, flipping it on. "Don't worry about it, Gohan, I'll teach you if you'd like. But for the moment, let's get you two fed." The dragon-blood said as he got to work on an actual breakfast.

Luckily, it didn't take him very long and soon the kids had a delicious set up of blueberry toast, poached eggs, and banana pancakes with maple syrup for Flurry, while Gohan had a plate of six scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and seven chocolate chip pancakes.

Spike, Flurry, and the newly awakened Rarity watched as the saiyan demolished his breakfast in seventeen seconds flat. "Man, that was great! Thanks, Spike. That was almost as good as my mothers cooking."

The dragon-blood donned a slightly smug grin. "Well, from how you go on about your mom's cooking, I'll take that as a huge compliment." He smiled and knelt down to kiss his wife.

Rarity kissed him back before snagging herself a few pancakes, a few sausage links (one of her cravings made her start eating meat), some bacon, a glass of orange and peach juice, and an emerald tartar (another craving).

(****Seriously though, Rarity, what exactly have you craved during your pregnancy?****

** **Rarity: Well, meat for one, precious stones which Spike just keeps on hand for me, and obviously odd combos of my usual foods. Like lemons, pickles, and jam at the same time.** **

** **Ew.** **

** **Rarity: Oh, shush.** **

** **Son Goku: Mmmm, that sounds good.** **

** **NO, YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP! THIS ISN'T YOUR STORY!)** **

"So, Gohan darling, any reason in particular you're up this early?" Rarity asked, tearing into her food as politely as she could.

"We're starting Flurry's training today, remember? Best to start early." He answered simply, thanking Spike for the juice he passed him.

Spike then noticed something. "Gohan, you have bags under your eyes. Did you start having those nightmares again?"

Flurry looked up from her food to see that her friend did, indeed, have light bags under his eyes. "No, I didn't sleep. I was busy." He answered again, shoving another pancake in his mouth. After swallowing it all but whole, he continued. "I was busy working on something." He stood up from the table, walking over to a bag he had set in the corner. He opened it and pulled out a dark purple gi that looked a lot like his, same kanji and everything. The undershirt for it was a shade of sky blue. All in all, it matched Flurry's hair rather well.

Rarity smiled a bit as Gohan presented the outfit her, him, and Spike had made for the young princess, who was now sleeping on the table. The pregnant woman donned a confused look. "Gohan, we finished that hours before I went to bed. I thought you went to bed just before I did."

"I did, but then I remembered I had to get another part of Flurry's gi ready."

* * *

Flurry huffed and puffed loudly as she carried the very heavy bag of mail from house to house. Being an alicorn-blood, she was naturally stronger than most her age, but this bag was every bit as heavy as her and Gohan together. Then, you just have to tack that onto the other little addition her teacher had made. "Gohan, explain… to me again… why I'm wearing seventy-five kilos of weighted gear?"

"I told you, it's strength training. It'll also give your stamina a good boost." The saiyan turned to his student. "Come, on pick up the pace. If we're late finishing this up, we'll be working to finish it through lunch." Flurry whined a bit at this, picking up the pace a bit. "I know you hate it now, but trust me. In a few weeks you'll see the results." Gohan said, pulling another letter from the bag and slipping it through the mail slot.

"A few weeks?!"

"Well, you didn't expect to become an expert over night, did you? Where's the fun in that?" He flashed her a quick smile, a light blush spreading over her cheeks. She smiled back and started walking behind Gohan again.

"One more question."

"Just one?"

She glared at his back, knowing he had that smart-ass smirk on his face. "How come you aren't wearing any weighted clothing?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm wearing weighted gear." He pulled off one of his wrist bands and dropped it, the princess's face mimicking a dying gold fish as the small band slammed into the stone path hard enough to crack it. He casually bent to pick it up, slipping it back on. "Come on, let's get going. We've gotta be at Sweet Apple Acres in an hour."

Flurry gave another yawn as she struggled to keep pace with her teacher, dropping another package on the door step of another Ponyville resident. It was honestly startling how large this little town actually was. Maybe that was also due to the fact that she was lugging around an extra hundred plus pounds.

"How many more houses do we have to get to before we go help the Apples?"

Gohan took a look at the list, mentally checking off the homes they'd already hit. "Fifteen."

Flurry very nearly started crying at that answer as she continued on her way.

The alicorn-blood princess flopped face first into the dirt, Gohan looking down on her with a light smile. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad. At least you aren't getting the training I had."

As much as Flurry was hating life right now, she had to admit that was at least one good thing about this whole situation. At least he wasn't tossing her out into the wilderness for six months with nothing but her giand a sword.

"Come on. We gotta get going to Sweet Apple Acres or we're gonna be late." Gohan said matter-of-factly. He started down the road slowly so Flurry could keep up with him.

The younger child whined again before standing and walking after him. Then, a thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Gohan, it's gonna be a bit of a walk. Would you mind telling me a bit more of your story?"

The saiyan smiled and pat her head gently. "Sure, I don't see why not. You've been working hard today."

Flurry went from tired and annoyed to hyper and giddy as Gohan began his story from after Nappa's death, detailing Vegeta's Oozaru form and the technique he'd used to transform, as well as explaining that the monster that killed his grandfather was his father. He got to his fight with the saiyan prince. "I can honestly say I'm happy Vegeta was as tired as he was because if he hadn't been, I'm pretty sure he would have killed me without a second thought."

"Was Vegeta really that strong?"

Gohan nodded. "He was the strongest being to ever land on our planet at the time. There wasn't a single doubt about that. And he refused to die to boot. Even after my dads Genki Dama."

"Genki Dama?"

"Spirit Bomb." Gohan translated. "It's one the techniques he learned from King Kai, along with the Kaioken."

"Wow, did he teach you any of those moves?" The princess asked excitedly.

The warrior prince chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he taught me them. The Instant Transmission technique I use my dad taught me as well."

"Your teleportation technique? Your dad taught you that?" Gohan nodded with a smile. "How did he learn it?"

This one threw the boy for a loop. "Uh, you won't like the answer." She gave him an inquisitive look, to which he sighed. "He got it from eating sick aliens."

Flurry's face turned from the light pink it normally was to pale, to green. Then she made a quick trip to the bushes. Once she got back, she gave her teacher a disgusted look. "You didn't-"

"Good green God, no! I just watched him do it and figured it out from there."

The princess gave a sigh of relief, following after Gohan after a moment. "Do you think you could teach me?"

He smiled at her and pat her head. "Let's worry about teaching you to fight first. Besides, you can already teleport. You don't need to learn Instant Transmission."

Flurry pout a bit, but didn't say anything more. She did smile as they walked beneath the entry way for Sweet Apple Acres. She waved excitedly to Applejack, Apple Bloom, and a rather elderly woman who all seemed to be waiting for them.

Gohan smiled and bowed as they got to the Apple family. "Thank you for letting us train here."

"It's no problem, sugarcube, but Ah am a bit confused as to why ya'll wanted to train here." Applejack said, crossing her arms and unintentionally lifting her impressive bust.

The elderly woman stepped forward slowly, looking close at Gohan. "Are ya the boy that done in that manticore that took my baby boy, Mac?"

Gohan gave her a sad smile and nodded, a bit shocked as she hugged him and the strength she was able to put behind it. "Thank you, son. Thank you." She pulled back, smiling broadly. "Ah'm Granny Smith. From here on, ya'll are part of the Apple family. Anything ya need, just ask."

"Really? Wow, thank you, Granny Smith." Gohan said as Flurry started chatting with AJ and Apple Bloom. "Actually, there is something I'd like to ask for."

"Oh? What's that, sonny?"

"A job." Granny Smith's eyes widened a bit at this request. "I'm sure Twilight will be more than happy to provide for me monetarily, but I can't ask that of her. I'd rather work for what I get and I'm sure you could use an extra set of hands."

The old woman gave a laugh before simply smiling at Gohan. "Sonny, Ah'll do ya one better. Ah'll give you a paying job working here on the farm on the condition ya fill that empty room we got."

The saiyan smiled and nodded, extending his hand. "You have a deal."

The grandmother swatted his hand away, giving him another near bone-crushing hug. This time though, Gohan returned the hug. "I like AJ's beef, apple, and cabbage stew, just in case you were wondering."

"Well, Ah'm happy." She whispered into his ear. "It's mah recipe." They both shared a laugh at this.

Gohan turned to see Flurry struggling to walk around in her gear again, smiling a bit more before he walked over to her. "Flurry." The princess turned to her bodyguard. "It's time to start the next part of your training for the day." He said before looking to AJ. "Where is the field you needed tilled?"

Applejack looked at him oddly for a moment before simply pointing out to a large field of soft dirt. Actually, large wasn't the word for it. Massive fit better. Gohan gave a whistle in appreciation. "That's gotta be almost a quarter acre. That'll be more than enough for us."

Flurry's jaw could not be any lower unless it fell off. "We're gonna till that entire field?!" She asked incredulously. Gohan nodded and the student sighed a bit. "Okay, well, where're the plows then?"

The saiyan chuckled a bit, pulling his arms into his shirt and letting the straps of his gifall before pulling the red undershirt off, giving the ladies a nice view of his well built body before he slipped the top part of his giback on, though his blushing apprentice (and a young blushing farm girl) noticed something she hadn't before. His shoulder… where did that scar come from?

"What do you mean where are the plows?" He said, hanging the red undershirt of his outfit on a tree limb. The weighted part of his training gear was the over-shirt, so this was just to make breathing a bit easier as he worked. He got into a runner-like position, his fingers buried in the dirt. "We are the plows." And just like that, he sped off, shoveling the dirt out with his bare hands.

The women just watched as Gohan plowed through the dirt, forming a straight line. Applejack started laughing loudly before she grabbed a bag of seeds. "Ya better hurry up, Flurry. Gohan's gonna have the whole field done before long."

The princess took on a determined, almost angry face before she got her hand in the dirt, immediately wondering if it was too late to go back home. She just growled and started pushing the dirt aside like her teacher had been. Her line wasn't as straight, but it was straight enough that the other two Apples began planting seeds in it while AJ planted seeds in Gohan's line.

Gohan stopped after his third line, noticing that Flurry had just finished her first and was starting on her second. "So, Gohan," He turned to young farmer. "Mind telling me why ya got Flurry diggin' in the dirt like a hog?"

The saiyan laughed lightly at her simile. "Well, I have her 'diggin' in the dirt like a hog' as part of her training. Look at her face."

AJ looked at her friends niece, noticing that while her determination hadn't diminished in the least, there was another emotion on her face. "It looks like she's hurtin'."

"That's because she is. The point of this training is hardcore conditioning and to help develop stamina as well as teaching her to control her strength. If she pushes too hard, she'll mess up the line, if she doesn't push hard enough, the dirt won't move. The rocks and whatever else is in the dirt will help to toughen up her hands." He noticed that Flurry was pulling her hands from the dirt and that she was bleeding a bit. He started to move towards her, but she instead got back to work plowing through to her third line.

"Don't ya think yer being a bit hard on her?"

"Yes, but that's the point. Nothing worth getting is easy. My training consisted of me running for my life until I could hunt what was hunting me, and now I stand nearly on equal footing with my dad." He crossed his arms as he watched the princess toil away. "She asked me to teach her and to give her anything but the best would be an insult to her."

"There's a lot more to martial arts then Ah thought."

"The martial arts isn't a hobby or a sport. It's a way of life that my father and many others have dedicated themselves to."

AJ looked down at the boy. He was the textbook definition of an old soul in a young body. "And what about ya?"

"… I'll get back to you on that. For now," He got back down into position. "I've got a field to till." He began to tear his way down the field, easily catching his panting student. She was much faster than he'd anticipated, but he figured that had something to do with her being an alicorn-blood.

Flurry looked over at Gohan as he tore past her, the girl growling a bit and picking up the pace. Man, this really hurts, but I'm not gonna quit! I refuse to quit!

* * *

Flurry gave another hiss of pain as Apple Bloom started cleaning out another cut on her knuckles. "Darlin', this seems like it's more trouble than it's worth. What's the point?"

The princess grimaced as AB finished wrapping her hand before looking out door and seeing Gohan outside, fighting a clone of himself. The multi-form technique he called it. Sweat and a bit of blood dripped down his chin before he rushed back at the clone.

"I'm tired of feeling helpless. I wanna be stronger so I can protect what means most to me. Just like Gohan."

The youngest Apple looked out the door at the boy currently trading blows with himself at blinding speeds. "Ya really look up to him, huh?"

Flurry hummed in response, flexing her hand a bit. "Thank you, Apple Bloom." She said with a quick hug that the farm girl returned, nearly causing her to vanish into her large chest. Once free, Flurry hopped off the table, idly wondering what she normally did when her mother did the same to her. She shook her head clear before walking to Gohan.

The saiyan landed hard after his clone kicked him to the ground, his hands cupped at his hip. "KA, ME, HA, ME, HAAAAA!" He fired the beam of energy up into the air as his clone charged it's own. "MASENKO, HA!" The two beams collided midair and shook the air around them, the blast wave very nearly uprooting the trees around them. The twin saiyans pushed against each other for a moment before the original dug in his heels and let a massive wealth of energy explode out into the Kamehameha Wave, easily overwhelming the clones Masenko. Lines of smoke ran out of the beam and into Gohan, his energy increasing by a wide margin.

"Wow." He turned to his awestruck student. "I saw you use an attack just like that when you were fighting the changelings."

"The Kamehameha. My dad taught me it. It's his signature technique." He smiled and pat her head. "Maybe I'll teach it to you one day." His smile faded as he looked down at her hands, knowing that even if she stopped today, she'd have the same little scars on her hands that dotted his.

She looked at where he was looking and smiled, jumping back and taking an improvised stance. He laughed and popped his neck, taking his own stance. "Well, I did want to spar to end out the day. Come at me!" No sooner did he say this did his friend run at him, throwing a poorly aimed punch at his head. He sidestepped and lifted his knee, letting her momentum carry her into the hit.

He spun quickly, kicking her back as he did. The princess cried out as she was kicked away, just barely stopping herself before kicking off the ground and rushing back in. Gohan simply sidestepped again. "You're getting angry. It's stupid to fight angry. Calm down."

Flurry growled a bit before jumping into the air and kicking at the boys head, said boy dropping down under the kick, standing on his hands and slamming his heels into his students back. The alicorn-blood spun into the air before she stopped herself, hovering in the air with her wings. She panted hard and started looking for Gohan, only to realize too late that he was behind her. "DODGE!" She turned in time to get kicked down to the earth below once more.

Gohan landed a few feet away from her, watching as she slowly rose. "You're losing me too quickly."

Flurry panted hard, glaring at her teacher. "You're… moving too… fast."

"Your eyes will lie to you. Focus on my energy, not me." He said, taking his stance again. This is gonna be a really long training session.

* * *

Twilight groaned a bit as she paced. It had been dark out for an hour now and still no sign of Flurry and Gohan. She knew that Gohan wouldn't let anything happen, but she was still worried. "Spike, can't you just-"

"Rainbow Dash is already out there looking for them, Twi. Worrying your hair out isn't going to get them home any faster. They're probably finishing up with training as we speak." The sound of a heavy door sliding over the floor before slamming shut. "See, what did I… By the Goddess." Spike said as he walked around the corner, Twilight close behind. The Princess of Friendship stopped dead as she saw the pair she'd been waiting for, dirty, sweaty, and in Flurry's case, bruised.

Gohan shifted the girl in his arms, said girl wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and nuzzling into his chest. Twilight ran forward to the two, Spike next to her. "What happened?" She demanded in a hushed tone.

"We were training."

"This looks like you tossed her in a cage with a boxer, Gohan." Spike said, not bothering to hide the anger in his voice.

"Martial arts isn't easy to learn and it's even harder to master. It was Flurry's decision to train, so going easy on her would be an insult to her and to me as her teacher." The saiyan said as he carried his charge up the stairs to her room. Spike still glared at the boy, but he pushed the princess's door open for him.

Gohan thanked him and moved into the room, laying Flurry in her bed as gently as he could, smiling a bit as he brushed some hair out of her face. He pulled a chair over to the side of her bed, grabbing a rag and going to the bathroom to wet it. He sat down before starting to gently clean the light bruises on her arms and the few on her cheeks from where she hit the ground.

Twilight came up behind him, watching him as he worked. He was such a powerful fighter, a tough teacher, and yet he could give such a gentle expression. The young woman watched the saiyan work for a moment before opening her mouth, only to be cut off. "She has a lot of heart, and she's more stubborn than a mule. I told her hours ago that we'd done enough for the day, but she insisted on keeping it up."

Twilight smiled lightly. There was heavy guilt in his voice that hadn't been there before. She put a hand on his shoulder. "She's much stronger than she thinks she is. She just doesn't know her limitations."

"She's going to need to learn them if she's gonna get any stronger. Strength without control is just destruction. I've seen what that can do, and I won't let it happen to her." he said, cleaning a bit of dirt off her cheek. He gasped a bit as her pretty opal eyes opened a bit.

She smiled softly at him, her glazed over with sleep. "Thank you, Gohan." she said softly, her eyes sliding shut again, that smile still on her face.

The saiyan's smile returned and he brushed her hair out of her face again. "Twilight." The princess hummed in response. "Heal her up, but only enough that she isn't hurting too badly tomorrow. We need those wounds to heal on their own for her to be conditioned enough to show that the training was worth it."

"How long is the conditioning portion of her training going to be?"

"If she's really dedicated, the rest of her life. Like I told Miss Applejack, the martial arts is a life style, not a hobby. I'm sure right now Flurry hates life and probably hates me too, but if she stays on this path, she'll understand."

"You sound like you've done this before." Spike said with a chuckle.

Gohan shook his head as he stood up, pulling the comforter of Flurry's bed up and over her. "No, I'm just telling you what Piccolo told me during my training."

Twilight suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the boy. "You really had it hard, huh?"

Gohan chuckled a bit. "I don't think so. I'm happy with the life I've had. If I were to die, I'd have no regrets. I may not have been the most social child, but I know that there aren't many people who can say the same. And I'm only eleven."

He started to walk out of the room, wrapping his tail tight around his waist as he moved. He wrote out a quick note before putting on the table beside the door. "I'm headed back to the Apple Farm. Have a good night, guys." He put his fingers to his head, vanishing from sight and leaving the princess and her assistant/captain of the guard alone.

Twilight turned back to see her niece still smiling. It's been so long since I've seen her smile like that. Thank you, Gohan.

* * *

Gohan appeared in front of the Apple Family home, the smell of stew and pie filling the air. He walked into the house, smiling lightly as he saw the women making dinner for them. He looked over at a shelf and saw a table cloth, pulling it down and setting forth to get the table set.

AJ turned around about that time, smiling as she walked over, pulling down the dishes and setting them on the cloth with Gohan. They worked in relative silence as Granny Smith and Apple Bloom finished dinner and got the bowls made (a large mixing bowl being used for Gohan, along with his own personal meat and apple pies).

The older Apple sister poured them all some cider to go with their dinner whilst her saiyan housemate set out the silver ware and plates. After this, they all set their meals down and took their seats. After talking about their day (a house rule), they dug into the meal before them. Some more stories were shared, including some of the story AJ had heard from Gohan and the siege on the Crystal Empire.

They ate, laughed, Granny Smith got onto Apple Bloom for swearing at the table, which was funny to watch. The young woman's face turned almost as red as her hair, even redder when Gohan made a comment about how she looked cute when she blushed, making them all laugh.

Never before have I wanted something so much, and not known until I received it. I kinda wish Mom, Dad, and Piccolo could be like this.

For the first time in his life, Gohan felt like he was part of a normal family. No wars had to be fought, no monsters from space trying to take revenge, no homicidal cyborgs or bio-androids trying to get vengeance for a long dead army. Just… that feeling of being home.

I wonder how you're doing, Mom. I know Dad's probably looking for me. I'll make sure to apologize to you both when I get home. Until then…

Gohan picked up his fork and, without anyone noticing, used it to catapult a piece of his apple pie at AJ.

The blonde gave a rather adorable squeak that made Gohan, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom laugh. In retaliation, AJ slammed Gohan's and Apple Blooms faces into their food, resulting in Granny Smith pouring her cider on her eldest granddaughters head. And the food fight commenced.

Gohan had so much fun that night, he slept better than he had since he'd gotten there. So, this is what a normal family feels like, huh? I think I like it.

* * *

Gohan flies into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boys neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.

****Gohan:****Hey guys! It's me, Gohan!

****Flurry Heart:****And Flurry!

****Twilight:****Hey, Flurry. How's your training going?

****Flurry Heart: ****Tough. Really, really tough, Auntie Twi. Gohan's been trying to teach me a new move, but it's not going well. Speaking of which, where is Gohan?

****Twilight: ****Pumpkin Cake wanted to play with him today, so I think he's in town.

****Flurry Heart: *blushed furiously* ****What?! Why would he go play with Pumpkin?! Hold on… somethings up with her energy.

** **Gohan: Next time, on Crystal Vanguard: Learn the Kaioken! Flurry Hearts First Battle!** **

****Flurry Heart: ****Get away from him, you monster!


	6. Learn the Kaioken! Flurry Hearts First Battle!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gohan looks over the mountainous expanse, his eyes closed before he smiles, turning to see Diserex standing on another rock spire above him, grinning in return. They both rushed off their perches, clashing loudly and trading blows. They separate and power up with twin cries, Gohan transforming before they slam their fists together. An explosion of light covers the area before The Crystal Vanguards logo appears.  
Last time on Crystal Vanguard, Gohan began Flurry's training in earnest, much to the princess's dismay.  
Though slightly disheartened and very much terrified of what was to come, Flurry pressed on. Once their mail route was finished, they moved from their warm up to the next stage of their training for the day. A quick trip to Sweet Apple Acres and a bit more of Gohan's story to go with it, and Flurry was introduced to the next part of her training.  
And so began the conditioning stage of the princess's training. It was bitter work, but the two tilled more than half the field in that day. After having Apple Bloom doctor her hands, Flurry moved to the final part of her training for the day. Sparring.  
Several hours of training later, Gohan took the now sleeping princess back to the castle, leaving her in the competent care of Spike and Twilight. He returned to the Apple Family Farm for dinner afterwards, initiating a food fight with the Apples.  
Will Gohan's happy times last? Probably not. I mean, have you seen the show? Or read the manga? It's really good, you should give it a look if you-  
Cast: START THE CHAPTER!  
Onio: *Holding his ears.* Goddamn, fine!

Gohan jumped, ducked, and dodged his student/charge's attacks. He had to admit, her progress was stunning. She was more than intelligent enough to understand the use of ki energy and how it differed from magic, but was so controlled that she could drop her energy to almost nothing at all. Krillin was the only person he knew that could lower his power further than hers with his… stealth mode.

Right now, they were finishing their training for the day, sparring as they normally did. It had been almost a month and a half since they had come to Ponyville and Flurry was taking to the martial arts like a saiyan did to war, even if she was hesitant to actually use what she knew. So much so that Gohan was currently fighting three Flurry's at once. She was copying Tienshinhan's Multi-Form after seeing him use it once.

One of the dopplegangers used the zanzoken, almost tricking him with an afterimage and closing the distance between her and her teacher in a matter of milliseconds.

Though the saiyan was still faster, blocking her punch with a cross-guard while stopping a low kick with his leg, though he still took a hard blow to the cheek. He spun into the force of the punch, lashing out with a roundhouse kick. He struck her hard, sending the princess spinning into a familiar stance. The only technique been the Kamehameha Wave, but now she was using it with ease.

Gohan had finally been able to tell everyone the whole story of his life, up to when he and his father left the Time Chamber. Many tears had been shed when Princess Luna used her magic to project his memory of Krillin's death onto the wall like a movie, even Gohan cried a bit at seeing his friend die again. The women and Flurry all hugged their young friend, his walls finally breaking as Flurry clung to him. He did something he hadn't let himself do since he was 'little' little. He cried into his friends arms, all the anger, the frustration and pain of the years past flooding out of him. That night, rather embarrassingly, Flurry slept in his bed with him at the Apples farm. They slept better than they had since Gohan came to Equestria.

It was rather adorable for AJ and Apple Bloom to walk in and see the sleeping prince and princess snuggled together, minding her horn, of course.

Gohan cried out as his aura erupted around his body. The ground beneath them shook as he pumped himself up to full power, batting away the beam with a simple backhand, though it did leave his hand stinging. She was strong when he'd met her, probably about on his dad's level when he first landed on Namek, but had no idea how to use it.

Now she was nearly on his level in base form with the knowledge of how to use it. Not as strong as Frieza or her aunts (sans Twilight), but all around impressive. She didn't have the experience to back it up, but she made up for it with her sheer intellect and tactical ability. Even Vegeta would be proud of how much this girl used her head and how fast she learned to use it in a crisis.

Gohan smiled at his student, his white aura still surging around him before he slipped his arms out of his tunic, tossing the weighted gear to the ground. The two took their stances and with twin cries, they began their battle anew, moving much faster than before.

Before, Flurry was able to somewhat keep up with Gohan's movements, but now he was much too fast for her, leaving her hopelessly on the defensive. As she blocked another strike, one of Gohan's first lessons rang in her mind. Your eyes will lie to you. Focus on my energy, not me.

Flurry stopped and relaxed herself, listening, waiting, feeling. She deflected a punch aimed at her chest downward, retaliating with a hard elbow across the saiyan's face. She intentionally took a blow to the cheek to make her opening from his other hand, but it hit way harder than she was expecting. The force of the blow sent her spinning while hers did the same to Gohan. They both used the momentum to try and kick each other, their legs colliding mid-strike.

The two jumped back from each other, panting hard. Gohan was panting, actually panting. It was getting hard to keep up with her without the Kaioken or transforming. He had the biggest smile he'd worn since he'd gotten to Equestria. He had no idea that alicorn-bloods had this kind of talent for war.

'To say I'm proud would be a bit of an understatement. But, she's in total control of it all. These Equestrian's are something else. Or maybe it's just Flurry. Either way, this is gettin' fun! Whoa, sounded like Dad there for a second.' Gohan thought. The saiyan promptly powered down, still smiling. "That's enough today, Flurry."

The princess honestly looked disappointed. She looked like she wanted to go a bit longer. "But why? We haven't even been sparring half as long as we normally do."

"Because, to be honest, you're almost as strong as me in my normal form. I didn't think you'd get anywhere near this strong this quickly. I'm sure you haven't noticed, but I'm going all out here. I'd have to use the Kaioken or transform to outright beat you now."

Flurry's eyes widened. Gohan hit the nail on the head. She had no idea he was going all out. She'd forgotten the undershirt of his gi was the weighted part. She wasn't wearing the weighted part of hers right now as Rarity was still fixing it from their last training session.

Flurry blushed as she felt Gohan's hand on her head. She looked up to see him smiling at her. "I think you're ready for the next part of your training. I'm going to teach you the Kaioken."

A dense red aura covered Gohan's body as his muscles began to bulge, an enormous heat rolling off his body. "KAIOKEN!" The aura stabilized and Gohan stood, his energy double what it was before. He cupped his hands at his hip, energy gathering in them. He gave a quick cry of exertion, expelling a huge beam of energy, much larger than normal.

Flurry stood off to side, watching in awe. First Gohan's power increased by double, and now he was firing a beam with enough power to destroy the whole planet hundreds of times over! Her awe was cut short, however, as the red aura of the Kaioken left her friend and he hit his knees as one of his arms hung limp at his side, his other supporting him as he faced the ground.

The princess rushed to him, pulling him up and letting him rest against her. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking into his dark eyes as he panted heavily.

He gave her a tired smile, chuckling weakly. "I'm fine, Flurry. But, this does illustrate my earlier point. The Kaioken is incredibly dangerous, even destructive to it's user. To be honest, that was the first time I've ever used it outside of training with my dad. It draws out latent power at the cost of tearing your body apart. You can counteract the effects through hard training, but even for someone as strong as me, sheer power isn't what you need. In fact, sheer power normally makes it worse.

The Kaioken multiplies what you already have by increments. The highest I've seen my father take it was x20 and even then it left him incredibly tired. To be fair, the only time I've seen him push it that far was against Frieza."

Flurry reached into her pocket as she listened to him, searching for one of the senzu he had her carry for herself. He only had seven left, but he was still worried enough about her to make her carry them with her. She gently pressed one to his lips, blushing lightly about the fact that she was touching his lips, but smiling softly as he ate the bean.

Gohan stood back up, popping his shoulder to be sure it was okay. Then he turned to his student. "This is why I made you promise you wouldn't use this technique unless it was absolutely necessary. No matter how strong you are, you'll tear yourself apart with this if you aren't careful. Understand?"

She nodded, but then started bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Can we start practicing now?" Gohan laughed and nodded.

"But, I have one request. You're just about at my level, so I want a real fight with you instead of a simple spar from now on. We'll still spar to round out training and to help you sharpen up your forms, but once a week we'll have a real fight to give you a bit of experience. All the training in the world is useless if you don't know how or when it needs to be used."

"You just want someone to fight with on your level that won't try and kill you." Gohan just laughed gently at this, stepping back from her.

"Alright, so the first step is meditation."

"Huh? But, we meditate for an hour every day in the morning. Why do we need to meditate again?" She asked.

Gohan merely donned his more teacher-like expression. "Simple. You've got an amazing talent, Flurry, and you're brilliant when it comes to thinking on your toes, but your biggest flaw is you have almost no control over your emotions. That is what will hold you back from using this technique.

You have some of the finest ki control I've ever seen, so controlling the surge of energy shouldn't be hard, but that control is so easily broken that even base Kaioken could end up being lethal. The Kaioken requires a calm mind and incredible focus, both bodily and mentally. I'm not even going to start you on drills until I know you have control of your emotions. Now, get to meditating. The faster you start, the quicker we can finish up."

Flurry pouted a bit before doing as her teacher instructed, sitting in lotus position and closing her eyes. She centered herself as he'd taught her, her energy resembling this as it rose and fell in waves. I have a bad feeling this is gonna be a while. She thought to herself.

Flurry growled as she sat in meditation in her room. Her and Gohan had been training to teach her the Kaioken for two weeks now and she'd only started drills the day before, and even then, they were doing light drills. He was being cautious with her and that downright pissed her off. She understood she was a princess and all, but this was ridiculous! He didn't take it easy on her when they first started, so why change that trend? The Kaioken is dangerous! She could hear him say. I understand that, but tiptoeing around it won't help!

She huffed and started thrashing on the bed in a mini-tantrum, burying her face in one of her many pillows. Gohan had given her homework. Meditate. That's it. It was like he was pushing her to get angry…

Flurry's eyes widened as she realized what the saiyan was doing. He was actively trying to make her angry so she'd have a reason to bring her temper under control. She sat up and sighed, returning to her meditation.

After a few more minutes, she couldn't sit like that anymore, huffing loudly as she hopped off her bed, walking out of her chambers to the kitchen, snagging a loaf of bread, some daisies, lettuce and a few pieces of ham. Like her dad, Flurry ate meat, but not very often, just when she was really hungry.

She made herself a large stacked sandwich… then a second and a third. She had developed quite the appetite training with Gohan.

I wonder when Gohan's birthday is… the princess thought as she bit into her sandwich. She found herself often thinking about her teacher. She knew a bit about his past and had a good understanding of who he was, but there little things she still didn't know. She didn't really have to think about what his favorite food was as he'd eat just about anything.

Maybe I should ask Aunt Pinkie for help. She could get him to tell her when his birthday is. She continued to eat her sandwich, pouring herself some juice as Twilight walked downstairs, yawning lightly. "Mmm, morning, Flurry."

"Aunt Twily, it's almost 4 in the afternoon." Twilight froze in her tracks. "You were up late reading again, weren't you?"

Twilight only chuckled nervously, pouring herself the last of the orange juice, commenting they needed more. Flurry giggled at her aunt, offering her a non-meat sandwich she'd made for her. Twi smiled and took the sandwich, biting into it. "So, have you trained with Gohan today?"

"I normally am." Flurry simply glared at her aunt, earning a quick laugh.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure Gohan has said something that made the effort worth it."

At that, a memory played in Flurry's head.

"Breathe slower, Flurry. You're trying to relax, not tear a stick out of your arm."

"I'm trying!" The princess snapped, standing and rounding on her teacher.

Gohan just stood, stone-faced as ever before Flurry cried out, rushing him with the saiyan deflecting the royals attacks before kicking her back to the dirt.

Flurry jumped back to her feet, ready to attack again but stopped short, seeing that old kind smile on his whenever he told her about his better memories. "That look you had just now reminded me of myself when I was training with Piccolo."

Flurry was silent for a few seconds after that statement. "You really look up to him, don't you?"

Gohan nodded. "Like I told your dad, he's like a second father to me. He's rough around the edges, but he's a good person. I think he'd like you, but that's not always a good thing with him. Even through all my training, in his own way, he encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming a scholar. So, what's your dream, Flurry?"

The princess was thrown off by this. She could remember her parents even asking about that. "… Promise you won't laugh?"

"Of course. Why would I laugh at your dream?"

He cheeks flushed light red. "… I wanna be a dancer. I mean, remember all the times I made you dance with me back at the castle?" Gohan nodded, blushing lightly. "Well, I've always loved to dance, and I've always been really good at it. Maybe that's what my cutie mark will be, huh?"

…. "What's a cutie mark?"

Flurry faceplanted comically at this statement.

The youngest princess snickered. She'd spent the next hour explaining what a cutie mark was and coming to terms with the fact that apparently saiyans (and humans) didn't have cutie marks.

"Hey, where is Gohan anyway?"

"Pumpkin Cake came over saying she wanted to play, so Gohan went out."

Flurry could feel her eye twitching. She didn't have a problem with Pumpkin, but she did have a problem with how the unicorn-blood attached herself to her bodyguard. Why? …

The princess blushed lightly as she thought about it, shaking her head and hopping up from the table. "I'm going out." She said, running out the door before Twilight could say anything.

Flurry floated above the castle, sensing out Gohan's energy. She didn't mind him going and having fun. It wasn't like she was his mother, but some notice would have been nice. He is her bodyguard after all. Leaves her in a tight spot when Twilight won't let her leave the castle without him.

She found him, but something felt… off. Then she recognized something. It was weak, very weak, but... She took off in his direction at top speed.

But first, a pit stop.

"Hey, Gohan!" Pumpkin Cake said, grabbing the young saiyans hand again and dragging him over to another, this time one selling replica tiaras. Pumpkin asked if she could try one on and the vendor handed her one, the small town unicorn-blood slipping it over her horn and into her hair. She twirled around, stopping and curtsying to Gohan, who bowed in return. "I look like a princess with this on, huh?"

"Yeah, it looks good on you." The puppy look she gave him after was enough to make the saiyan sigh, putting some bits on the stall. They walked off with Pumpkin on the fighters arm.

"GOHAN!" The two turned to see a panting Flurry Heart. She looked like she'd been through a war-zone

Pumpkin scowled at Flurry as Gohan ran over to her. "Flurry, what happened?!"

"Gohan, that isn't Pumpkin Cake!"

"What?"

"Of course I'm Pumpkin Cake. Who else would I be? A bugbear?" Pumpkin said, grabbing Gohan's hand and trying to pull him back. "Gohan, she's just jealous you have another friend, let's go."

"Honestly, Flurry, that's what this is sounding like to me. But, we do need to get those wounds taken-"

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Flurry shrieked, catching Gohan off guard. It was really rare, even when she was angry, for Flurry to raise her voice like that. "I know that Pumpkin isn't the real one because this one is!" A flash of pink and a very scared, very hurt looking Pumpkin Cake appeared beside them, causing the small crowd that had gathered to gasp and back away as Gohan's now angered gaze flipped to the Pumpkin holding his hand.

"Who are you?" The saiyan asked, standing protectively between Flurry and the Cake twin, dropping into his Demon King stance.

The fake backed away, growling lightly before smiling. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. Thanks for the tiara, Gohan~." The imposter said sweetly before she was engulfed by green flames. Once the flames died down, in the place of the fake was a female changeling. She was short, even by the standards of her people, which made the bust she carried look even odder. She had long green hair and bright blue eyes with a vertical pupil like a cats.

Flurry's eye began twitching. 'Her damn boobs are almost the size of my head! WHY!?'

The changeling chuckled as Gohan growled. "You're going to pay for hurting my friend, changeling."

The changeling warrior pout a bit at this. "My name is Chitin, Gohan. I would have thought you'd have asked before threatening me. I mean, we did just have a lot of fun on our date." She sighed and yawned lightly, causing Flurry to fume all the more. "Besides, it's not much of a threat if you can't back it up."

Gohan had heard enough, rushing the changeling with a heavy over hand punch. Everything went silent until the saiyan spat up a mouthful of spittle, doubling over and holding his stomach. His fist had made contact but did no damage.

Chitin chuckled before kicking the saiyan back into Flurry, the princess catching her bodyguard and being bowled over by his weight.

"Try again for a bit?" She taunted, the boy growling before roaring, his golden aura erupting around him before fading out.

"W-what the-?" Gohan fell to his knees, panting heavily. "Why can't I go Super Saiyan?"

Flurry stood by his side, trying to help the warrior to his feet as Chitin laughed at them, more changelings appearing around them. "Still haven't figured it out? I took your energy, kid. You're about as threatening as a newborn kitten now."

"But, energy absorption isn't the power of a changeling!" Flurry argued.

"Not normally, but I'm a bit special, being a princess and all." Flurry's eyes widened. "Oh, did I not introduce myself properly? Forgive me. Princess Chitin, sister of General Diserex and daughter of Queen Chysalis."

"Flurry, get out of here, now!" Gohan ordered, staggering to his feet, much to Chitin's amusement. "I'll handle this. Get back to Twilight."

"Are you out of your mind?! You can barely stand, let alone fight! Let me fight!"

"Oh, yes, throw your charge to the wolves, Gohan. I could use the warm up." Flurry glowered at the changeling, magic sparking in her horn as she dropped into her stance.

"Flurry, this isn't your fight! You aren't ready for this!" Gohan said, staggering and falling over again.

"Maybe it wasn't my fight. But it is now!" Flurry said, rushing the changeling princess, the air and ground shaking as their forearms met.

"Ooh, look at that, you're not bad for a spoiled, pampered pony princess."

"We'll see how much of a brat you are when I show you what a Princess of Equestria can do!"

Chitin scoffed and the two broke away, rushing back in and trading high speed attacks before flying into the air as the changelings below started being tossed around by Twilight, Spike, a very angry looking Shining Armor and a very tall, white caped individual.

"MAKANKOZAPPO!"

Twilight sighed a bit as she watched her niece blast off, a quick burst of magic in the castle catching her attention. She turned and walked back inside to see Shining Armor standing in her kitchen, sipping coffee and reading the paper.

She smiled and walked over, pulling the paper away from her brothers face. "What's up, big brother?"

"Hey, Twily. I finished all my paperwork for the day, so I figured I'd come by and check up on the kids."

"Check up on Flurry, you mean?"

"What? I worry about Gohan just as much as…" Twilights 'Really?' face cut him off. "Am I really that transparent?"

"You're a father, Armor. All fathers are like that."

"You got me. I came by to see how my baby girl is doing." He conceded.

Twilight sighed a bit, sitting down. "Well, first you should know a manticore attacked the day we got here." Armor's eyes widened. "Gohan took care of it, though Fluttershy wouldn't talk to him for a while."

"What did he do to it? Break it's leg?"

" Vaporized it." Armors jaw dropped at her statement.

"I doubt it left him much choice. Gohan doesn't attack and certainly doesn't kill without reason. He isn't me or Vegeta after all." Another voice said, sounding behind Twilight.

The princess whirled around quickly, magic sparking in her horn. But the sparks of magic faded quickly as she froze in place at having seen the being behind her, all the color draining from her face fast.

What stood behind her was the most imposing being she'd ever seen with his green skin, pointed ears and the even more imposing height of at least seven feet. He bore what seemed to be a constant scowl and his power was terrifyingly strong. If she had to guess, he or it was far stronger than Gohan in his base form.

"U-um, h-hello." The being simply smirked.

"Mr. Piccolo, please don't scare my sister like that." Armor said, a sweat drop on his head.

"She should be more aware of her surroundings. I've been standing here since we got here."

"What?!"

Piccolo scowled again. "See what I mean?"

"Wait. Did you just say Piccolo?" "Twilight asked, with Shining Armor nodding. "As in Gohan's teacher, Piccolo? The former Demon King?"

Piccolo smirked again. "The one and only. Who else would I-" SLAP! "Be? Well, I guess Gohan told you how I trained him too."

"Twilight!" Shining exclaimed, only to be ignored.

"What kind of monster throws a four year old into the wilderness with only a sword!?" she demanded.

"A competent one."

Twilight pulled her hand back to slap the demon king again only to feel Armor's hand wrap around her wrist. "Twilight, that's enough, you got your point across."

Piccolo gave a genuine smile as Twilight continued to glare at him. "You've got fire. I like that, you'd make a fine warrior."

The princess just scoffed and turned to her brother. "Why and how is he here?"

"It's rude to exclude, Princess." Piccolo said.

"Piccolo, do not make me turn around. I will rip your world a-fucking-sunder." She spat back.

Reminds me a bit of Chi-chi. Kami said, earning a chuckle from Piccolo

Yeah, just without all the screaming. Nail commented.

Give it a bit, she'll get there.

"So, why are you here?" Twilight asked.

"It should be obvious. I'm here to take Gohan home. His mother went into labor not too long ago and she doesn't want to be alone."

"What about Goku? I know he's not the most reliable guy, but I'd think he'd be around for his own wife while she's giving birth."

Piccolo just stared at the princess, shock written on his face. "He… He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

… "Has he told you anything about what's going on back home?"

"Well, he did tell us a bit. Some kind of tournament happened and his dad saved your world." Shining said, a bit confused as well.

Piccolo clenched his fist tight. That's… "Has Gohan been experiencing memory loss?"

Twilight lifted a brow. "Yes. Why? Is… Is something the matter?" She didn't like the tone he was using. It wasn't rude, but it sounded as though it hurt, whatever it was.

"He told you about the tournament, but he can't remember the result. Son Goku didn't defeat Cell, it was-" A loud concussive wave rocked the windows of the castle.

"What was that?!" Armor barked, the front doors of the castle exploding open.

Several large changelings ran into the castle interior, brandishing their weapons as they searched for the inhabitants, one being pounced on by Spike, who immediately tore out the side of it's throat. He turned to the others, only to find them already dead on their feet, watching them fall to the ground in a heap of limbs and flesh.

The dragon-blood looked to the opposite side, shocked to see a tall young man with a sword half sheathed on his back, the crossguard clicking as he fully sheathed the weapon. "Piccolo! The entrance hall is clear!"

"Nice work, Trunks." Piccolo said as he walked into the room with the royals behind him. The young warrior turned to face them, smiling at Spike and offering him a handkerchief and a hand. The dragon took the handkerchief, but stood on his own.

"Uh, Twi, mind telling e who are guests are and why there are changelings attacking the castle?" Spike asked.

"Later, Spike. We gotta get to tOWN!?" Twilight started, being lifted up by the strange young man before screaming as they lifted off, Piccolo, carrying Armor on his back with Spike hot behind them. "What in Tartarus are you doing?!"

"This seemed faster than just explaining the situation. Gohan's energy isn't even a tenth of what it should be right now and it feels like there's a fight going on between of your people and these changelings." Trunks said, looking down and stopping dead. "Piccolo, look!"

Under them was the town, the denizens running to their homes as quickly as possible, but the changelings didn't seem to be paying attention to them. Their focus was on Gohan as he fought off three attackers at once, his movements heavy and sluggish. Finally, with a quick burst of energy, he shoved his attackers away with a kiai, though it wasn't strong enough to kill.

The half breed warrior was panting hard as his attackers were rising back to their feet, the boy preparing for round two when a spiral beam tore through one of their chests and a ball of yellow energy vaporized the other two. "Gohan!"

The warrior looked up to see his friends land beside him. "Mister Piccolo! Trunks!" Gohan's smile vanished as he was assaulted by another changeling, the small bug like humanoid being wrapped in Piccolo's stretching arms before the super namek roared, slinging the enemy warrior far off to the side.

"I WILL WEAR YOUR ENTRAILS AS SWEATBANDS!" The green giant ran in, effortlessly tearing his way through the throng of changelings, the rest of his team behind him.

"Piccolo, why don't we try that move we worked on to fight the Androids!?" Gohan asked as he kicked a changeling over to Armor who promptly cracked it's skull with a magically created shield.

The namek smiled before shedding his weighted gear. "Don't miss the timing, kid!" Piccolo did a back flip, kicking a particularly large changeling into the air, rushing into the air and putting his fingers to his head.

Gohan was beyond tired, but he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing. He hopped into the air, mimicking his teacher as they aimed at the airborne and stunned warrior.

"MAKANKOZAPPO!" they bellowed, firing twin spiral beams from their fingers, the two beams crossing with the changeling in the middle of the x they formed.

"Gohan!" Armor ran up to the boy as he landed, noting silently how tired he looked. "Where's Flurry?"

As if answering him, Flurry came screaming out of the sky, slamming into the ground and sliding a few feet before Chitin dropped knee first into the princess's gut. The changeling princess stepped back as Flurry rolled over, vomiting up whatever was in her stomach. "Oh ho, your teacher was right, kid," Chitin grabbed a fistful of Flurry's hair, pulling her up. "you are far from ready for this."

Gohan roared as he jumped into the air, aiming to kick Chitin in the head, but was quickly swept aside by her arm. Piccolo and Trunks roared in unison as their powers climbed, Trunks taking on the familiar green eyes and blond hair of a Super Saiyan with Twilight gaping openly at him.

Chitin only scoffed and charged her own energy, her aura exploding outward and dwarfing the other two.

"Dammit, how is she that powerful!?" Trunks said, covering his eyes.

"She changed into one of my friends and tricked me into spending the day with her! She absorbed almost all of my power!" Gohan cried, pulling Flurry back up to her feet, only to be pushed away. "Flurry, no!"

The princess screamed as her own power joined the mix, wrenching herself from Chitin's grip, her aura being much smaller than anybody elses. "I don't care how much stronger you are than me! I am a Princess of Equestria! I WON'T LET YOU HURT ANYONE!"

Piccolo smiled at her outburst. "Your student has heart, Gohan."

Chitin didn't look impressed. If anything, she looked even angrier than before. How the younger girls opal eyes burned with such conviction and resolve…

She rushed forward, slamming her fist into Flurry's gut, lifting the poor girl off the ground. "You go on and on about how you'll stop me and how you won't let me do anything. You honestly believe you can stop me!?" She screamed, slamming the alicorn-blood into the ground.

Flurry grabbed her wrist, lashing out with her own fist and punching her rival hard in the face, sending Chitin flying. "Just because you have Gohan's powers doesn't mean you know how to use them!" The alicorn-blood sighed lightly as she tried to calm herself. Anger uncontrolled was something she couldn't use. Wait. Control. That's it!

Chitin stood back up with a growl, her boobs wobbling and causing some of the males in the group to turn out of embarrassment. Flurry simply stared her down before a red aura erupted around her.

Gohan's eyes widened as he watched the red aura around his friend grow slowly denser.

"KAIOKEN!"

"Kaio-what?!" Chitin went silent as Flurry rushed her, bending the changeling girl over her arm as her fist sank into her belly, spittle flying from her mouth.

The invading princess slowly stepped back, holding her stomach as her forces stopped cold. Many of the changelings there had been at the invasion of the Crystal Empire, so to see a girl who couldn't even fight off their grunts before going toe to toe with who is supposed to be the next Queen of the Hive was a bit of a shock.

Chitin growled before she screamed her energy rising again. "You little brat! I'M GOING TO DESTROY-" Flurry didn't give her the chance to finish, kicking her in the stomach again before backflip kicking the other princess into the air, giving chase. The alicorn-blood slammed into the base of Chitin's back, flipping her around, before flying down into her, flipping her so she was facing the sky just in time to see Flurry charging up her teacher's signature attack.

"MASENKO!" She fired the beam down, the energy slamming into Chitin's chest and sending her screaming into the ground below. The young princess landed in front of her group of friends, many of them horrified, but two showing a large amount of pride and another showing surprise.

"She's supposed to be your student, right Gohan?" Trunks asked.

Gohan nodded as Flurry watched the crater Chitin was in. "I honestly didn't think she'd be able to pull that one off. I've had her meditating and practicing anger management techniques for weeks, but I didn't think she'd be ready for the Kaioken so soon."

"Looks like she wasn't." Piccolo said, his usual scowl returning.

Gohan looked at his teacher oddly before looking to his student, fear running through him as he noticed her right arm was hanging limp at her side. The Kaioken definitely took it's toll on the princess. "Please, stay down." She said softly, panting heavily. Chitin made no move to get up, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the only indication that she was still alive.

Flurry started to fall back, feeling herself fall into someone's arms. She looked to see a worried Gohan holding her, her father right beside him. She smiled softly. "I did it." She said, cringing as she shifted a bit in her friends arms.

"You pushed yourself too far, Flurry. Look at your arm."

Armor's horn glowed as he transferred the magic to his hands, running them over Flurry's arm. He didn't claim to be well versed in healing magic, but he knew enough. "Gohan, what have you been teaching her?"

The saiyan looked a bit guilty at that question before the elder prince was unceremoniously bonked on the head by the Power Pole. "Papa, don't blame Gohan. I asked him the train me. He's been nothing but amazingly sweet to me the whole time, always making sure I don't push myself too hard during training, checking in to make sure I got a good amount of sleep." She looked up at Gohan before nuzzling into his chest. "I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Flurry…" Gohan's cheeks immediately began to burn up, but he didn't stop her, smiling softly as she closed her eyes.

Armor was at a loss. Not a what his daughter had said, but at what she was doing and what Gohan was doing. It was as if looking at a picture of him and Cadence when they first started out in their relationship.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Piccolo, or you, Trunks, but why are you guys here?"

Trunks spoke up first after scooting away from the incredibly observant Twilight. "You've been gone for almost four months, Gohan. We went to Namek and summoned Porunga to ask him where you were and he sent us here. My mother said you were helping test some experimental teleportation tech and the experiment went awry. It landed her in the hospital for a month and you and your pilot vanished."

Gohan's eyes widened. It all came back to him. Bulma all but begging him for his help, meeting Angelina, the pilot, alarms blaring, him grabbing the young woman as they saw the ground. "That pilot… did she have a family?"

"Well yeah, they're pretty worried about her too and-" Trunks stopped after that as he noticed Gohan's word choice. Did she. "She's… She's gone, isn't she?"

"Killed on impact."

Trunks looked crestfallen at that bit of info. That wasn't going to be something that would be easy to tell her family. The truly unfortunate side of that was that he'd had to give very similar messages before when the androids were still attacking his world.

Piccolo stepped up next. "Gohan. I want you to tell me the last thing you remember clearly about your father."

The saiyan looked at his teacher oddly. "But why-"

"Just answer me." The namek said sternly.

Gohan hummed a bit as he thought back. "Honestly, walking out of the Time Chamber. Everything after that is fuzzy."

"… Who was it that defeated Cell, Gohan?"

"Well, it was my dad, obviously. Right?" Gohan was starting to get scared. He didn't like where this was going.

"Gohan." Trunks said, catching the boys attention. "Goku didn't defeat Cell. You did."

"What?"

Piccolo jumped back in. "But not until after Cell took Goku's life." The namek knelt before his terrified pupil. "Gohan. Your father has been dead for almost ten months."

Everyone, even Twilight who had been writing in her notebook stopped cold. The only sound around them was Gohan beginning to hyperventilate.

"Gohan." Flurry called, but no response was given. The boy's mind was in shock. Dad's… dead. No. That's… That's not possible.

Gohan's head snapped up as Chitin's energy erupted from the crater. He turned to see her launching herself out of the crater, a ball of energy in her fist. Everything seemed to slow down as Gohan turned himself, stood, and opened his arms to protect Flurry Heart and Shining Armor from the world ending blast.

The young saiyan screamed as the blast wave enveloped him, the ki infused magic attack ripping both him and his gi apart. The young saiyans scream filled the air as he took the world ending blast head on. After a few seconds of silence, the dust settled to show a grievously wounded Gohan still standing. For a moment, Piccolo saw his own death at Nappa's hands.

"Gohan!" The namek caught his friend as he fell, lifting him into his arms. "Gohan, wake up. Please, kid, open your eyes."

"No, not again." Trunks said, his eyes glazing over momentarily.

Flurry crawled out of her fathers hands while he was frozen from the shock. Piccolo set the boy down, watching the princess. "Gohan. Gohan." She kept repeating his name, shaking him as she sobbed loudly. "No… No…. NOOOOO!" She roared, throwing her head back as a massive gust of wind tore across the ground, pieces of the ground under the party's feet being shattered or torn up.

A bright red aura erupted around her as her power started climbing.

"N-no way… she's taking the Kaioken."

"Triple… Quadruple… No, it's-" Trunks was cut off by Flurry's scream.

"TIMES TEN!" Her aura expaned over the area, turning the air thick with her power and an almost ruddy red color. "KAIOKEN TIMES TEN!" She screeched before launching herself at Chitin, catching the other princess hard in the face with an over hand right.

The force was enough to send Chitin flying back, but she quickly recovered, rushing back in, only to her attack pushed aside with ease. "What the-?!"

Flurry slammed her fist into Chitin's gut with enough force to create a gust of wind behind her. "It won't work! Draw as much energy from my emotions or anyone elses! It won't be enough to stop what I am now!"

Chitin retaliated with a high kick, which was, again, blocked, giving Flurry a chance to unleash a 'flurry' of strikes on the unguarded changeling before upper cutting her into the air. Flurry gave chase after her. "You keep saying that being a Princess of Equestria means nothing. That we're all just pampered," She rushed past Chitin, striking her midair, "spoiled," another strike, "lazy!" She struck the changeling again, kicking her higher into the air.

Flurry's eyes widened for a moment as pain shot through her. 'The Kaioken isn't going to last very much longer. I gotta finish this now!' She thought, teleporting to the ground. "You don't know the first thing about us!" She screamed, cupping her hands at her waist as a pink-blue ball of energy began to form in between them. "We may not be as hardened or as cold as you changelings, but one thing we do have IS OUR RESOLVE TO PROTECT WHAT MATTERS! KAAAA, MEEEE, HAAAA, MEEEE,"

Chitin finally righted herself, unable to fully understand that Flurry, this brat that thought she was better than she was, was absolutely dominating her! 'This is impossible! I absorbed Gohan's power! How is she still stronger than me!?' She looked down to see Flurry charging her final attack, Chitin's eyes widening. 'This is it. I'm going to die here…' She looked down at Gohan's unconscious body and smiled softly. 'Well, at least I can say I had fun.

"HAAAAAAAA!" Flurry unleashed the Kamehameha wave, the buildings and ground around her shattering under the force of her attack. The wind kicked up by it shoved most of her allies back, Trunks and Piccolo the only two able to take it, and even Piccolo was having trouble standing up to it. The blue and pink beam tore it's way at Chitin, the princess's eyes widening.

"That's quite enough." A new voice said, getting between Chitin and the blast, easily repelling it. Flurry and company gasped as they looked up at the new enemy to join the fray. Armor's eyes widened in fear as the man came into view. "No… Not him…"

"Who is that?" Trunks asked, taking his stance.

"The general of Queen Chrysalis's army, her firstborn son." The man smiled as Armor introduced him. "General Diserex!"

General Diserex, the man who very nearly defeated Gohan on the boys first day in Equestria, has joined the fray to save his sister!

Diserex looked down at Gohan and scowled. "To be beaten with such an easy trap. How pathetic. A warrior is ready for anything, boy."

"You have no right to say anything about-" Flurry started only to be cut off as Diserex began to exert his power, easily overwhelming the group. "N-no way… He's even stronger than when Gohan fought him." Flurry's body shuddered before she coughed up a small mouthful of blood, the Kaioken finally being broken.

"I see no reason in wasting my time talking. I came here on a mission, so it's time to complete it."

**What is this mission that Diserex was sent to complete!? How will our tired/underpowered hero's fare against his might!? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON CRYSTAL VANGUARD!**

* * *

The scene opens with Gohan flying into frame as a Super Saiyan, landing and powering down with a broad smile on his face before catching a falling Flurry Heart, the young girl wrapping her arms around the boys neck and kissing his cheek as the logo for Crystal Vanguard appears overhead.

Gohan: Hey guys! It's me, Gohan!

Flurry Heart: And Flurry! And son of a bitch!

Twilight: Princess Flurry Heart, watch your language!

Flurry: I'm sorry, Aunt Twily, but how else do want me to react to this!? And how in the name of the Goddess did Diserex's power grow so much?! It hasn't been long since he fought Gohan, has it?

Ben: -checks the day he uploaded the story- September 21st, 2017.

Cast: …

Diserex: Can I kill him?

NEXT TIME ON CRYSTAL VANGUARD! DISEREX APPEARS! RETURN TO THE HIPPOGRIFFS! Hopefully that chapter comes out sooner…


	7. Diserex Appears! Return to the Hippogriffs!

Diserex smirked and crossed his arms. "My, oh, my, I didn't think I warranted such a diverse welcoming committee." His gaze shifted to Piccolo who took his stance. "Piccolo Jr., the son of the former Demon King." He then looked to Trunks. "And Trunks Briefs, Vegeta's estranged bastard." He chuckled lightly as they both looked shocked that he knew such crucial details about them both.

"We've never been here, so how the hell do you know us?!" Trunks asked as Chitin fell into her brothers' arms, who unceremoniously slung her over his shoulder.

"Simple, 'Princess' Trunks. I am a soldier and information is one of the many weapons in my repertoire. After my first bout with Gohan there, I decided to do a bit of research."

Diserex vanished as a Makankozappo beam shot through the space he had been in. The general reappeared, looking up to see Piccolo above him, ready to strike. Diserex dropped his sister, the teen being caught by some of her soldiers as the changeling warrior stopped the nameks attack with his hand. "Oh? You are quite strong. It seems my info on you was a bit outdated."

"There's only so much you can learn through others. Allow me to demonstrate what I can really do!" Piccolo roared, kicking the changeling back before starting a highspeed brawl with the general.

Trunks was focused on keeping the changelings back with the help of Spike as Twilight and Armor got to work helping the kids. Flurry woke after a few seconds, but Gohan made no moves to get up.

A multicolored streak flashed from the sky, sending several of the changelings flying back. Rainbow Dash landed in front of her friends, dispatching a few more of the soldiers before Trunks blasted a few more away.

Two bursts of magic got their attentions however, the two siblings looking up, and their pupils all but shrinking.

Piccolo roared as he and Diserex slammed their foreheads against each other, bolts of energy traveling between them. "Your power, it's much higher than my research said! Oh, how happy a miscalculation that was!" Piccolo growled before kicking the changeling away.

"Guess you didn't see when I fused with Kami, huh?" The namek smirked before snap vanishing behind Diserex.

"Kami?!"

"It means God." Diserex turned to the namekian, finding his green enemy in a crouching position and a highly condensed ball of energy forming in between his hands. "Now bow. LIGHT GRENADE!" He threw his hands forward, loosing the blast into Diserex's chest. Light filled the area as a deafening explosion tore the area apart.

* * *

The blast could be seen from Cloudsdale, miles from its epicenter, as it covered the area for literal miles in every direction in brilliant light. Discord looked down at the land below in horror. The clashing energies he was feeling down there were… monstrous to say the least. And now those two are involved. This is getting bad.

Discord had been convinced by his wife and mother-in-law to stay in Cloudsdale for a couple of months as her mother took a cruise for her birthday. Now, the Spirit of Chaos was really wishing he was home to help his friends.

"Discord?" The god-like being turned to his beloved, who nearly fell over as the shockwaves of the blast finally reached them. Discord caught her, worry on his face. He normally tried to keep a light hearted approach to life, but now…

"It's getting bad down there, isn't it?" Fluttershy asked, cuddling close to Discord as their children ran to them.

Discord adopted a scowl as he looked down. Then, he smiled a bit. "It's getting a bit chaotic, but they can handle it. They're strong." He knelt in front of his children. "Who wants to play tag with Dad?"

Screwball, her twin, Songbird, Entropy, and his twin, Pandemonium, all raised their hands, squealing as Discord growled and began chasing them. Fluttershy smiled as she watched her family, but her smile faded as she looked down at the area her home was in. Twilight… I hope you're all okay.

* * *

Piccolo pant lightly as he stared at the cloud of smoke in front, not at all shocked to see Diserex with a barrier around his body. "Impressive, Namekian. But, all together fruitless. Besides, I'm not here to fight. Not yet, at least."

"Then what are you here for?" Piccolo asked. The namek wasn't near as tired as he made himself out to be and the changeling knew it, but he didn't press it.

"Simple. Chitin was here to drain Gohan of his energy so that he'd be more… complacent." Diserex said with a mirthless chuckle. If anything, his voice dropped a bit, as if he didn't like the idea.

"Complacent? For what?" Then it clicked it Piccolo's head. "Your mission wasn't to kill or fight Gohan. You're here to kidnap him!" Diserex nodded slowly, seemingly so confident in his plans that telling his enemy would make no difference. "Why?!"

"You don't need to know that, just that he will serve a much greater purpose in the hands of Queen Chrysalis than with these Equestrians." Diserex spat before raising his barrier again as Piccolo began bombarding him with shots.

"You're not taking him anywhere, changeling!"

"Is that so?" Diserex smirked and retaliated by launching a blast at, not Piccolo, but Gohan and company. Trunks, Armor, and Twilight had moved from the group, with the alicorn-blood and unicorn-blood having done all they could in the way of first aid. Now the blast was headed straight for Gohan and Flurry.

"NO!" Piccolo abandoned the fight to try and outrun the blast, receiving a savage punch from Diserex, his fist bending the namek over it and hitting with enough force to show on the other side.

As the blast neared, two beings unveiled themselves to the warriors, erecting a barrier of impossibly powerful magic, swirling yellow and blue energies showing on its surface.

Diserex scowled as he dropped the now unconscious Piccolo, who was caught by Trunks. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Luna's glare held a fury few had seen with Diserex simply meeting it with a glare of his own, though his wasn't near as intense. "I would not have believed that you of all people would be capable of such a deplorable and dishonorable tactic, Diserex."

"History is written by the survivors, Luna." He answered back with, freezing up as one of Celestia's magic blasts tore straight through his barrier.

"You seem to have forgotten who you are dealing with. Allow me to remind you!" The Princess of the Night materialized a large crescent moon scythe, leaping through the hole Celestia made for her. She was faster than Diserex had anticipated, the general barely able to back away in time to dodge a fatal blow, though it did still cut through his armor like it wasn't there.

_She's grown even stronger since the last time. But so have I_. Diserex caught the blade of her scythe, grabbing the woman by the hair at the top of her head, and pulling her down into his knee. Blood shot up as Luna reeled back, the Princess of the Night sent spiraling to the ground as Diserex slammed both his feet into her chest.

Celestia fired a magic bolt at Diserex, who backhanded the blast aside. "Get Gohan and Flurry out of here! Take them to where the sky meets the ocean! The people there can help!" She turned to see her friends frozen in fear.

"Do as she said, now!" Piccolo roared, shoving Trunks back after he woke up. "Go with them!"

"But, Piccolo-"

"We're here to take Gohan home! We can't do that if this Diserex gets ahold of him! Go!" The namek roared, flying up into a smirking Diserex's reach, the two starting another midair fight, Luna joining the green giant. Their fighting styles surprisingly fit together well, keeping the changeling too busy to do anything about Twilight charging a teleportation spell, taking the group with her in a flash of light and a pop.

He roared, shoving the two back with nothing but his raw power. He closed the distance between him and Piccolo, impaling the Namek on his arm before using that same arm to blast Luna. The alicorn-blood screamed as the blast plowed her into the earth below, moving into the Everfree Forest before it finally exploded.

"Luna!" Celestia had finally seen enough. Her power erupted as she started firing blast after blast at Diserex. The general made a move to dodge, but he underestimated how durable Piccolo was as the former king grabbed his arm, holding him in place before swinging him around into the blasts, dislodging the mans arm from his stomach.

** _I've heard of an empty feeling, but letting him punch a hole in you was a bit much, don't you think?_ **

_Kami, shut the fuck up!_

The dust cleared to show a wounded Diserex. The air began to shake as Celestia launched into the air, unleashing a flurry of attacks on the changeling as Piccolo regenerated. The namek joined her, pressing the general hard before they finally broke his guard, Piccolo punching him hard in the gut and Celestia spin kicking him in the face.

_Told you it was effective._

** _The ends don't justify the means._ **

The general stopped flying backward with a shout and blast of energy, turning back to his opponents, a slightly wounded Luna appearing behind him. The changeling smiled for a moment. "Seems that I'm outmatched."

"It's over, Diserex. Give up. I'd rather not fight an old friend if I can help it." Celestia, her weapon, a large broadsword, appearing in her hand.

"Old friend?" Diserex chuckled. "Is that what you saw me as when you betrayed me? Or how about when you sealed me in rock for over a thousand years? Was I a friend then, 'Princess'?" The venom in his voice caught even Piccolo off guard.

_**Seems as though these three have a history.**_ Kami observed.

"You left us no choice!" Luna cried.

"Just like when your own sister sealed you within the moon? Are you telling me there is no bad blood at all there? That that particular wound has healed up without leaving a scar?" Luna faltered for a moment before she regained her countenance. "But, in all honesty, I'm happy you sealed me away. It gave me time to grow. Time to understand the truth. The only true justice is power absolute. And now… I have that power in my grasp!"

Diserex started building up a shout, the air and earth around and under him shaking violently. Light began to radiate off his body as his muscles began to bulge, veins popping up over them. The light turned to swirling darkness, blanketing the area around him in a thick, black fog.

The three warriors watching this froze as horror passed through them. _H-his power… it's enormous! And it just keeps growing!_ Piccolo thought.

_No, it can't be!_ Celestia cried internally.

Diserex gave a final cry, dark light flooding the area with his power. The three warriors looked on in shock as the changelings transformation finished. "Piccolo?" Celestia croaked out.

"Yeah?"

"You feel that?"

"I taste that." He barked.

"What does that mean?" Luna asked.

"****You're fucked****."

* * *

The party reappeared on a rocky beach, several of them having to stop and vomit on the sand. Trunks wiped his mouth, taking the canteen offered to him. "Thanks." He held it over his mouth, making sure his lips didn't touch it before passing it to Rainbow, who was pulling herself off of Spike, who was wrapped around his wife and newborn son, Goku. They couldn't find a good name, so Gohan suggested naming him after the boy's father. They liked it. Rarity got to work trying to quiet the disturbed baby as he wailed.

"Kids got one helluva set of lungs." Trunks said quietly before looking around. He didn't know any of these women, other than Twilight, and he only knew her name. "Alright, since your princesses sent you all here, let's go ahead and get a head count."

Twilight gave a quick count, coming to a count of 13, the Elements, Flurry, Candence, who showed up when she felt the massive disturbance of magic, getting caught in the teleportation at the last second, Armor, Gohan, Spike, Trunks, and little Goku. "Everyone's here."

"Good, then we'll go ahead and get introductions out of the way. My name is Trunks Briefs. I'm sure Gohan has already told you about who I am and where I'm from, so I won't bore you with my life story."

Everyone else introduced themselves as best they could with Goku screaming his head off. Trunks finally walked over when everyone else finished explaining, holding his arms out to Rarity. "Mind if I see him?" The parents were a bit apprehensive, but Gohan trusted him, so they decided to as well. Rarity gingerly held Goku out to the lavender haired boy who took him with practiced ease. Trunks than put the baby over his shoulder and pat his back a bit until the boy belched. "He was just gassy." he said, handing the now giggling boy back to his father.

"How did you-"

"In my time, there are a lot of orphans and a lot of kids left with younger siblings. They needed someone to help teach them how to care for babies and my mom is only one person, so she taught me a bit and had me help her out." He said, cutting Spike off while also making faces at Goku to make him smile and gurgle. He stood back up with a light frown, looking around. "Alright, we need to figure out what we need to do next."

"We need to go to the Kingdom of The Hippogriffs." Twilight said, walking over to Trunks.

The boy looked at her oddly. "How do you figure?"

"Where the ocean meets the sky. Celestia intentionally said that to make sure Diserex didn't figure out immediately where we were going." She said, still confusing the party. She turned to the Elements and Spike. "Remember when the Storm King attacked?" They nodded. "Well, what did we have to do to save Equestria then?"

"Oooh, Oooh, pick me, pick me!" Pinkie shouted sticking her arm in the air and waving it around.

"Uh, Miss Pinkie?" Trunks said, shocked when the party girl hopped up and ran over almost too fast for him to see. 'How?!'

"We had to go find the Hippogriffs, but first we went to the this desert merchant town where we met Capper and thought he was a nice guy, but then he tried to sell us and at the last second helped us to escape then we met up with the sky pirates that were under the Storm Kings command, but then Rainbow sang a song and got them to go back to who they really were and they helped us to get away from Tempest again, then we found the Hippogriffs home, but they weren't there, so we went underwater and found them there and-"

"PINKIE!" The young woman stopped and took a deep breath as Trunks just looked on, horrified.

"How did she do that without having to breathe?"

"Don't ask." Twilight said simply. "Anyway, like Pinkie said, we had to ask the Hippogriffs for help, but they had turned themselves into merpeople."

"Where the ocean meets the sky." Trunks parroted.

"Exactly. Some of the Hippogriffs remained in the ocean. They didn't want to come out of the water. So, the people of the sky are still tied to the ocean."

"Hmm… Well, if nothing else, it's at least a lead. Alright, we need to get ready to-" His eyes widened and he turned to the east, towards Ponyville. 'Piccolo…'

"Trunks?" Twilight asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

He closed his eyes and steeled himself. "I don't know how to say this, so I'll just be outright. The moment we got here, I started monitoring the energies of the people we left back there to fight that Diserex guy. Your princesses and Piccolo. Just a few moments ago, Diserex's energy increased exponentially. And then, Piccolo's energy and the other two's energies blinked out." he said solemnly, the party's eyes wide. Many of them had tears in their eyes, Twilight looking as though she'd woken from the worst nightmare of her life.

"What does that mean?" Rarity asked.

When Trunks stayed silent, Rainbow grit her teeth, stepping forward and grabbing him by his undershirt. "She asked you a question! What the hell are you talking about?!" Still, he was quiet. It earned him a hard slap from the angry woman. "Answer me! You can't seriously be saying that bastard had the strength to kill all three of them!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Rainbow froze, slowly letting go of Trunks' shirt. "From here on out, until we know otherwise, we'll have to assume that Diserex killed your princesses and my friend. It hurts, I know. But we can't let it drag us down. If that… thing was strong enough to kill them all together like that, it means he's a threat to both our worlds."

Flurry broke down, sobbing hard as Twilight clutched at her head, her mind collapsing bit by bit as she tried desperately to wrap her head around the fact that her teacher, the woman she had come to see as a second mother, was dead. The others in their group weren't faring much better. Fluttershy sobbed into Applejack's chest, the country girl only barely holding on as tears ran down her face. Rainbow was still frozen, Rarity and Spike held each other tight. Cadence was holding her bawling daughter, Armor wrapping his arms around them both and cradling them against him. Pinkie was trying to get through to Twilight who simply stood, hyperventilating.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Trunks bellowed, causing everyone to freeze and look at him. His face was drawn in a hard scowl and even though they'd never met the man, they could see how he resembled his father. "I wish I could give you time to grieve, time to mourn and catch up with everything that's happened. But we don't have the time or luxury. We need to move. If Diserex finds us before we get to these Hippogriffs, their sacrifices will have been in vain. Do what you must, but don't let your emotions drag you or others down. I understand that you're all scared, but sitting here, crying and losing it will not do their memories the justice they deserve." He didn't like admitting it, but he'd gotten good at bringing a grieving group together when he needed to.

When he saw that he had their attention, but that they were all absolutely drop-dead tired, he sighed lightly. The young warrior reached into his pocket, pulling out his capsule box, popping the top on three and tossing them out. They exploded and in their places, two fridges and six tent bags sat on the ground. "I only have six tents, but I have enough food to keep us decently well-fed for about a week. We'll camp here for the night, but at first light, we're moving out." He started to unpack the tents, being joined by Armor, Rainbow, AJ, Pinkie, and Spike while the others set to checking the fridge for meals or going out a bit to collect firewood. Cadence just seemed to wander off, but she came back once the moon had started to rise, looking like she'd just gone through hell.

Trunks looked over to see Flurry still sitting by Gohan, the boy not making a move as she clutched his hand. It shocked him to see such devotion and love from a girl so young. He stood up after he finished pitching the tent, Spike putting a bedroll in it. He walked over to the two, waiting for Flurry to look at him. "Gohan will be all right. He's the strongest person I know."

She simply stared at him for a moment before looking back at Gohan. "We should move him to a tent so he's not sitting out in the cold." He said, kneeling down and picking the boy up. Flurry simply stared on before standing and going to her mother to ask if she needed help. Trunks watched the girl, his heart almost breaking at the empty look in her eyes. He'd seen that look before in the eyes of the people who lost their spouses and lovers. Even if Gohan wasn't dead, she still felt as if she'd failed him and, in a lot of ways, that was just as bad.

He looked down at his friend. "You've found someone really amazing, Gohan. I hope you wake up soon. If not for you, then for her." Trunks walked to the tent and laid the half Saiyan down, covering him up.

A fire was built and it's crackling was the only sound in the campsite as everyone at their modest meal of vegetable stew. It had been a while since Trunks had seen so many people so down, so defeated. He made sure to thank Rarity and Cadence for the meal before letting everyone know he'd be taking the first shift for the watch. He also informed them that he'd be teaching them all how to sense ki so they weren't in the dark if he or Flurry weren't on watch.

After a short talk about the plan for the next few days, Twilight using the stars to gain a bit of orientation, and getting all the food packed back up, They decided on who would sleep with who. Spike, Rarity, and little Goku were given the largest tent, Armor and Cadence next, then Rainbow and AJ, Pinkie and Fluttershy, Flurry and Gohan, and Twilight to her own tent. She was actually sharing it with Trunks, but as the Saiyan didn't plan on sleeping, she had her own space to herself.

The sound of the wind running over the shoreline and the waves lapping at the sandy beach was the only noise the young swordsman heard as he trained. Normally he wouldn't be training while on watch as it would tire him out, but he had some things on his mind. Or, someone rather. Twilight. He knew that hollow, angry look in her eyes. He had the same look for a long time when he'd lost the Gohan of his time.

And then there was the rest of their party. These people have lost their friends, their homes all in the span of a few hours. He had dealt with this exact situation with the Androids far too many times. Diserex had to be stopped or-

"Trunks?" The young man stopped mid-punch and looked to his side, seeing Twilight standing there, an arm wrapped around her midsection and her hand gripping her other arm. Her violet eyes shown with unshed tears, paired with the deep tear stains on her face. She wasn't wearing makeup, luckily, so no runoff. Trunks did admit, though, she did look pretty in the light of the fire.

He walked over to her, practically towering over her. She noticed, as well, that his jacket hid some amazing muscles. He looked almost like chiseled marble. "You should be resting, Princess. It won't be long before we have to leave."

"I could say the same for you." She retorted, a bit more curtly than she had intended. Her eyes widened a bit once she realized the tone she had just used. "I-I'm sorry, it's just-"

"Don't worry. I understand. Better than you think." He said, hoping to lighten her burden a bit.

The Princess of Friendship simply looked down at her feet. "Gohan told us that he was your master in your time. He also said… he died." Trunks felt his heart clench a bit. "I never thought… I'd have any idea what that felt like. To lose someone… that you trusted, that you loved that much." Tears began to fall to the sand as she gave a weak, mirthless laugh. "And now… I know just how weak, how powerless I am compared to what she had to face. It's almost laughably ironic, that I, her self-proclaimed top student, would fall short when it mattered. I couldn't even help the kids! I'm just a pathetic excuse for a princess! I couldn't do anything to help her, or Luna, or even Piccolo! I just stood by and watched!"

Her tirade was brought to an end when Trunks flicked her forehead. She yelped and rubbed the sore spot, half-heartedly glaring at the boy. "Can you use a spell to see someone's memories?" Twilight took a moment before nodding, remembering that Luna had taught her a simplified version of her Dream Walker spell. The downside was that it wouldn't work if her target was asleep and didn't consent to her entering their minds. Trunks took her hand and put it to the side of his head. "There's something I want to show you."

She looked at him oddly before closing her eyes and summoning her magic, activating the spell. Her horn glowed faintly and Trunks could feel something poking around in his mind. He closed his eyes and focused on the memories he wanted to show her. To show her she wasn't alone in how she felt.

* * *

_Twilight opened her eyes, looking around the corridor she was in. It was Trunks' mind and every doorway lead to another memory. One of the doors opened for her, the princess hesitating a bit before walking in. She had to close her eyes at the brilliant flash of light that nearly blinded her. When she opened them, she felt a multitude of things. Security, happiness, a bit of physical pain, and the rush of adrenaline. She looked around and saw what looked like a younger Trunks flying over the ground at an older man._

_He had several scars on his face with short, black hair and equally dark eyes. He was wearing a very familiar gi. Twilight recognized it immediately. It was Gohan's gi. But, that wasn't even the most distinguishing attribute of the man. No, that was the fact that he was missing his left arm. Even so, the man almost danced around Trunks as the boy tried desperately to hit his teacher. His efforts were met with a swift knee to the gut and an overhand left that sent him rolling in the dust._

_Twilight watched in awe as Trunks struggled to stand, looking up at his smiling master as said warrior extended a hand to him. He pulled himself up and smiled back. "You're doing great, Trunks. Just a bit more and we'll call it a day."_

_"Okay. Thanks, Gohan." The boy said, taking his stance._

_'So, that is Gohan. He looks… so different here. So much harder and colder. But…' She smiled as Gohan knocked Trunks back to the ground, only to help him stand back up with a smile and a laugh, making sure to give his disciple advice on what he did wrong. "I guess some things don't change, no matter the world you're in.'_

_"Alright, Trunks. Last drill of the day."_

_Trunks nodded, his face being drawn in a hard scowl. Twilight gasped as she felt a swelling of rage. The spell connected her to the target, making her feel what they did. Luckily, even as a kid, Trunks was tough, meaning she didn't feel much pain from Gohan's attacks, even if they both knew he was holding back. The younger saiyans aura sprang to life around him as he started charging his energy. "Come on, Trunks! You can do this! Focus on that pain, that anger you feel towards the Androids! Use it!" Trunks started to scream and his hair flashed gold for a moment before his energy plummeted, the boy falling to his knees and puking into the grass._

_Gohan pat his students back as he calmed down. "Don't worry about it. You'll get there." Twilight could feel the love Gohan had for the boy, looking at him almost like a son, the same look her dad gave her and Armor. A bit later the two were sitting on top of a massive rock formation in the wilderness, watching the clouds and talking. It was sweet to see it. It reminded her of… when she'd have tea with Celestia after a lesson. "You know, Trunks, you really are amazing. You've made so much progress in such a small amount of time. I can feel it, you're close. You just need that final push."_

_Trunks stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. "Hey, Gohan?" The warrior hummed. "You keep telling to use the pain of loss to fuel myself, but I can't honestly think of anything I've lost. How do you do it?"_

_Gohan just gave a small smile in response. "Well, I think of two things. The first being the rage and pain at seeing my friends and the people I love being taken from me. Dad, Piccolo, Krillin, even your dad, Trunks. That pain fuels me. It builds up to a breaking point until it finally just erupts. Then, I remember that all of them left me here with a duty to protect our world. Our home. That memory helps me reign in power. Turning Super Saiyan isn't just about the rage, but about control as well. Keep that in mind, Trunks."_

_Almost on cue, an explosion shook the ground and lit up the sky. The two stood and looked down at the city, more explosions erupting. "The Androids! We need to get down there and help!"_

_Gohan gave a mighty shout, his hair turning gold with his aura. "No, Trunks! You have to promise me you'll stay here!"_

_"What?! You can't expect me to let you go down there and fight them alone! Come on, I'm stronger than before!"_

_Gohan seemed torn for a moment before smiling at Trunks. "Alright, Trunks. We'll do it your way." He turned back to the city. "Let's go give those bastards what they deserve."_

_"Yeah!" Trunks exclaimed, about to lift off before everything went black._

_Twilight was in shock. 'What just happened?'_

_The world came back into view as Trunks groaned. He looked out to the city, jumping to his feet as horror ran through his blood like freezing cold water. "Oh, no." He lifted off, flying down as fast as he could. He began searching for Gohan's energy but felt nothing. His panic and fear continued to rise as he flew over the city. Finally, he saw something that made his heart stop. Twilight covered her mouth as she felt her own heartbreaking as the boy landed, walking slowly to the prone figure in the center of the crater, tears rolling down his face._

_It was Gohan, lying face down in the rainwater pooling around him. The boy knelt down and shook his master. "Gohan." He cradled his master's head in his arms, pulling him close. "Gohan! GOHAN!" He let the body of his best friend, the closest thing he'd ever had to a father, drop back to the ground as he screamed to the heavens, shaking violently. Blood began to run down his arms as his nails bit into the palms of his hands. He gave a final torrential scream, his aura exploding around him, his hair turning shock gold, his eyes turning to an almost emerald green. The newly realized Super Saiyan gave another scream of pain, the city shaking around him before his fists crashed to the ground, shattering the pavement in an almost ten foot radius around him._

* * *

Twilight broke the spell, panting heavily as tears ran down her face. She looked back into Trunks' eyes. He understood. He really did. He knew that pain better than anyone, maybe even better than her. His face gave nothing away, but the look of pain in his eyes mirrored hers. She finally broke down, planting herself against his chest and sobbing into his shirt. He gingerly wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back as he waited, letting her get all that pain out of her system.

He offhandedly noticed the sun beginning to rise in the distance, oddly noticing Cadence standing on a rock with her arms outstretched to the sky, Armor holding one of her hands, before gently picking Twilight up in his arms and walking her to their tent. She gave no notice that she was being carried outside of a surprised hiccup. As the sun rose over the campsite, the warrior slowly calmed the princess. The dawn had always been a source of comfort for her, but not today. The night had come and gone, but the dawn didn't usher in the hope it normally did. The Elements, the saiyans, and the Princesses of Equestria had been beaten and now they only had the last words of her master to make things right. As she sobbed into Trunks arms, she prayed to the Creator that they could do just that.


End file.
